Nige's Diet & Nutrition Blog

Vitamin D video.

2012-02-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

By Dr. Richard M. Cooper (Private GP, Harley Street). Thanks to Dexter Yard for posting this on my Facebook wall.

Part 1

Part 2

How did we get to where we are today?

2012-02-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh. Here comes another political post. But first...

Someone (now dead) wrote "You tend to get what you accept". In a democracy, it's more a case of "You tend to get what the majority accept". Why did the majority accept things that took away their freedom? Adam Curtis has a few ideas (surprise, surprise!)

1) The state promised prosperity through rationality, science & technology.

2) The state manipulated history & memories.

3) The state promised happiness through consumerism & giving the masses what they want.

4) The state scared the shit out of us.

5) The state exploited our natural distrust and selfishness.

Enjoy the dream.

So yeah, I know what the state (aided and abetted by big business) got/gets up to to keep the "peace".

Lessons in life.

2012-02-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this, as I'm having a bitter argument with somebody. First, a music video.

At low population densities, humans are social, as mutual co-operation favours survival. Humans naturally form groups of about 150. At low population densities, anarchy works - for a while. However, inevitably, somebody starts cheating on somebody else. Cheating is beneficial to the cheater (until they get caught) and detrimental to the cheated. Cheaters may be physically punished, or evicted.

Nowadays, we have purpose-built places to which we evict cheaters. I know that modern-day prisons also contain people who have broken pointless laws.

As population density increases, unrest increases. There are power struggles & disputes.
In male-dominated societies, disputes are resolved by violence and murder.

In female-dominated societies, disputes are resolved by sex. N.B. Scenes of violence, murder and sex.

I know which society I'd prefer.

As population density increases, an increasing percentage of the population are antisocial.
EDIT: As population heterogeneity increases, an increasing percentage of the population are antisocial, due to group snobbery.

In the US, there is a high population density, also high heterogeneity. What do you think will happen if US citizens (who are free to carry guns) are left to run themselves? See 2012 - 2013 Violent Welfare Riots/ Looting spread across America - Gun confiscation in major cities. I predict rioting, looting and carnage.

In the UK, there is a very high population density, also high heterogeneity. What do you think will happen if UK citizens are left to run themselves? See UK - London Riots, BBC News: "Andy, we'll leave it there". I predict rioting & looting.

Rioting & looting are bad for business and are therefore not allowed.

I believe it's a sad fact of human nature that large, dense, human populations need to be controlled.

Bias.

2012-02-11T01:41:00.000-08:00

All lies and jest. Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Here's a lovely song by Simon & Garfunkel.

I watched the Paranoia video from my last post a few times and I couldn't help but notice how balanced it was. The Labour party (Roy Jenkins) was praised, the Conservative party (Margaret Thatcher) was praised and capitalists (Rupert Murdoch) were praised. Nixon's politics were never mentioned. He was simply power-mad. The more power/influence/money that someone has, the more they have to lose and therefore the more distrustful & paranoid they become.

Since the Hutton Inquiry, the BBC has bent over backwards to appear balanced and impartial. There's probably still bias in it, but I can't see it. That's because I'm biased!

I see a lot of Confirmation bias. There are various theories out there which try to explain the recent huge rise in rates of obesity and morbid obesity, as these conditions are occurring in ever-younger people. Morbid obesity in childhood is a disaster, as it leads to fat mass hyperplasia, (rather than fat mass hypertrophy), which leads to hypoleptinaemia when significant fat mass is lost and a lifetime of low metabolic rate & excessive hunger.

There's Taubes' (Wrong) Insulin & Carbohydrate Theory Of Obesity, which makes the acronym TWICHOO.

There's Guyenet's Food Reward Theory Of Obesity, which doesn't make an acronym.

There are opposing camps of people who believe that one theory is right and the other is wrong, and they cherry-pick evidence to "prove" it. However, the two theories are not mutually exclusive. I believe that refined carbohydrates (and thus insulin) have a large influence on fat mass in people with poor blood glucose control, due to roller-coaster blood glucose & insulin levels causing lethargy and subsequent overeating. I believe that food reward has a large influence on fat mass, due to it causing overeating.

That's why I'm in favour of REAL food diets, as they minimise both blood glucose & insulin fluctuations and food reward. Please note that reward is not related to deliciousness. Fries/chips aren't delicious but they are moreish. Real foods are delicious without being moreish.

Rants and rambles.

2012-02-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

It's Friday and time to "get it off my chest".

I'm not over-keen on snobbish, conceited people and blustering bullies. However, I'll still link to their blogs and they'll always be free to leave comments on mine.

I know that I can seem like a pseudointellectual at times. I rely on Google & Wikipedia to fill-in the gaps in my knowledge (which are many). I forget a lot of stuff, as my memory ain't what it used to be. I also have trouble comprehending complicated concepts, as my mental faculties ain't what they used to be. Even nostalgia ain't what it used to be! If I write something and you think that I haven't properly thought it through, please let me know. I run this blog so that I can put my thoughts down in writing. If you learn something from them, good.

I moderate comments to eliminate the clutter of "This comment has been removed by a blog administrator", but mainly to slow down the rate of comments to a value that I can cope with. I couldn't cope with a flood of comments should I write something controversial.

I censor as a last resort (e.g. Razwell's long, rambling comments containing insults and excessive SHOUTING).

I hope that you all have a nice weekend.

Why have we all become paranoid weirdos?

2012-02-09T03:03:00.000-08:00

Except for you & me, and I'm not too sure about you!

Please note: "Why have we become increasingly distrustful?" is far more accurate, but nowhere near as attention-grabbing.

Adam Curtis has a few ideas.

For more Adam Curtis videos, see http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=%22Adam+Curtis%22

Politics - Bleurgh!

2012-02-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

Just recently, I've been lying in my bed, thoughts running through my head. This always happens when I come out of a long period of depression. Here's a nice song from Robbie Williams.

When I started this blog, I made a decision to not discuss politics & religion, as they are about beliefs rather than evidence (I don't believe in angels, by the way). However...

Governments influence what we eat & drink with "Healthy Eating" guidelines.
Governments influence what we eat & drink with subsidies & taxes.
I therefore need to discuss politics.

In an ideal world:-
Governments discourage people & organisations from doing harm.
Governments discourage people & organisations from being A-holes (IMO), as A-holes make the world a worse place to live in for everyone.

In the real world:-
Governments are influenceable.
More money = more influence.
Crap in a Bag (CIAB) makers make humongous profits turning cheap (and often heavily-subsidised) crops into CIAB. They have loads of money.
Fat people eat more CIAB than thin people. More fat people = increased profits.
See where this is going?

Governments do bad things. I'm not under any illusions. Governments also do good things.
I believe that greed & corruption in government is the problem, not government itself. How to solve the problem of greed & corruption in government? Answers on a postcard, please.

What I believe and what I don't

2012-02-02T01:02:00.000-08:00

First, some soothing music...

I've been getting into arguments on the Internet again! People assume that I believe certain things and "put words in my mouth". As we all know, assume makes an ass out of u and me. I am therefore "laying my cards on the table", so that you have no excuse for being ignorant.

I believe that human beings are extremely complicated creatures both physiologically and psychologically. Our weights are influenced by a humongous number of factors, some of which I will list below.

Physiology

Calories count (but don't bother counting them)! If we eat more than we use, we store the excess in fat mass and muscle mass. If we eat less than we use, we draw the deficit from fat mass and muscle mass. Insulin is involved in the storage of stuff, as is acylation stimulating protein (ASP).

Moving too little makes our skeletal muscle insulin resistant, as inactive muscles have virtually zero requirement for glucose and fatty acids, so down-regulate the uptake of them. See also The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women.

Eating too much and moving too little has sweet-F/A to do with gluttony and sloth.

Our weights are regulated by our brains, which are influenced by a large number of hormones & chemicals, including insulin. There is no "set point" weight.

In the winter, when it's cold and dark, we eat more, sleep more and move less so we gain body fat. Subcutaneous fat acts as heat insulation, so having more of it in the winter makes sense.

Our weights can be affected by water balance, which is controlled by our kidneys.

How much of a particular food we eat is influenced by reward. Some foods can be addictive (or moreish, as we say in the UK) due to excessive reward. Deliciousness and moreishness are not the same thing. Reward theory and set-point theory are not the same thing.

Rapidly-falling blood glucose level in the normal range can stimulate appetite. I have had personal experience of this on three occasions where my blood glucose level was being monitored. As eating a load of high-glycaemic carbohydrates can result in rapidly-falling blood glucose later, this is another good reason to not overeat refined carbohydrates.

Psychology

The exercise paradox. Exercise decreases appetite*. So, why do people eat more when they exercise more? See Normal Weight Men and Women Overestimate Energy Expenditure – Research Review and Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects.
*If exercise increases your appetite, there may be a reason. See Move More: Solutions to problems.

The diet paradox. People think that eating a healthy food with an unhealthy food reduces the calories, discussed in detail in The Dieter’s Paradox – Research Review.

Manipulating the masses is easier than you think.

The Coolidge Effect applies to food as well as sex. Eating one food for every meal gradually reduces reward to zero, no matter how moreish it may be initially. This is how the Potato diet worked.

I often leave very concise comments on blogs. Just because I don't mention this, that or the other doesn't mean that I consider this, that or the other to be irrelevant. I can also go on a bit. I'm a nerd!

So, do you now "get" me?

The Science Behind the Paleolithic Diet

2012-01-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Melissa McEwen for posting the above-titled video on Facebook. It's 27 minutes of common sense from Matt Lalonde Ph.D Harvard University Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Reasons to get moving...

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

First, a music video. What else but...?

Part 1. Get slimmer.
Insulin increases the amount of nutrients entering adipocytes, which makes us fat and hungry.

Er, just a minute!

If increasing the amount of nutrients entering cells makes us hungry, exercise (which increases the amount of nutrients entering muscle cells) would make us hungry. It doesn't. See Fig. 1. in Influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin, and peptide YY in healthy males.

If going for a walk outdoors makes you hungry, you're doing it wrong. Wrap up warm, as feeling cold increases hunger. Low blood glucose level also increases hunger, so don't over-exercise while on a long-term ketogenic diet.

By the way, insulin also increases the amount of nutrients entering muscle cells.
Q. What determines the relative amounts of nutrients entering adipocytes vs muscle cells?
A. The relative insulin sensitivities of adipocytes vs muscle cells.

Adipocytes are sensitive to insulin until they become full. To reduce the amount of nutrients entering adipocytes, divert more nutrients to muscle cells by increasing their insulin sensitivity. Emptying muscle cells by doing low-intensity exercise increases their insulin sensitivity. High-intensity exercise increases their insulin sensitivity.

Part 2. Prevent/reverse age-related sarcopenia (muscle loss).
See Use 'em or lose 'em. As diverting more nutrients to muscle cells increases muscle mass, increasing their insulin sensitivity results in increased muscle mass, unless you're eating way below maintenance calories. High-intensity exercise results in more muscle mass gain than low-intensity exercise.

Part 3. Make your brain work properly.
Thanks to Chris Highcock, who gave me a complimentary copy of Hillfit, I found IL-6 and IL-10 Anti-Inflammatory Activity Links Exercise to Hypothalamic Insulin and Leptin Sensitivity through IKKβ and ER Stress Inhibition.

In plain English, this means that exercise increases both insulin and leptin sensitivity in the hypothalamus. As the hypothalamus controls appetite and both insulin & leptin are appetite-suppressing, the net result is less appetite.

Use 'em or lose 'em

2012-01-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Hello world. I'm back. The title is referring to our muscles. The following image is from Figure 1 of Chronic Exercise Preserves Lean Muscle Mass in Masters Athletes.

I'm not going to start doing chronic exercise, but the above is a great incentive to continue with the walking.

No System Sounds on XP? Buttons greyed-out?

2011-04-17T12:46:00.001-07:00

Kerrie "did something" to her fiancée's lap-top resulting in the loss of all Windows System sounds, also all sound using Firefox, though iTunes & RealPlayer produced sound just fine.

On Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Sounds, the Play button for System sounds was greyed-out. The record & play buttons on Sound Recorder were also greyed-out.

After many hours of unsuccessful tinkering, the problem was eventually solved HERE.

K-Lite Codec Pack 7.1.0 STANDARD version also contains a very nice Media Player.

The Vitamin D Association is organising 2 conferences in London in May

2011-04-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

that might be of interest to you and your colleagues:

May 17 Vitamin D & Obstetrics – Improving Pregnancy & Childbirth

Some of the world’s foremost experts will show the strong evidence that higher levels of Vitamin D lead to easier conception, easier pregnancy, less gestational diabetes, less pre-eclampsia, reduced risk of emergency C-sections and an easier delivery, followed by less depression in the mother and a larger, healthier baby. There is also evidence that the risk of Type-1 Diabetes in the child is reduced and that the child will have stronger bones and teeth.

Professor Bruce Hollis will discuss findings from his recent Trials on vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy and breastfeeding. He is the director of Paediatric Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and has studied vitamin D metabolism and nutrition for the past 35 years. He has published significant scientific papers on the biomarkers of Vitamin D in the body as they relate to a number of illnesses

Professor Reinhold Vieth is Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. His current research focuses on the roles played by vitamin D in many illnesses and especially gestational diabetes, plus toxicity and safe blood serum levels.

Professor Hollis and Professor Vieth will release findings of their recent work on what mothers and health professionals need to know about vitamin D – information that they hope will help clarify new guidelines for safe sun exposure, supplementation and suitable dietary sources of vitamin D.

More at: www.vitamindassociation.org/events

May 18 Vitamin D & Cancer – Treatment & Prevention

Long-term Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many cancers, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, heart disease, respiratory infections, muscle weakness, mood and cognitive function and infectious diseases such as influenza.

There is strong evidence that high levels of Vitamin D both help the body recover from cancer and also play a major part in preventing cancer.

Professor Joan Lappe is professor of medicine at Creighton University in USA. She will report on the results of a major Level 1 Randomised Controlled Trial that showed the preventive actions of Vitamin D and calcium against cancer.

Dr. Enikö Kállay will provide practical advice for Oncologists and other medical professionals about the latest genetic tests for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. She is Assistant Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, Department of Patho-physiology and Allergy Research, where she studies the role of Vitamin D and dietary calcium in the prevention and pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, with special emphasis on the CYP24 gene.

More at: www.vitamindassociation.org/events

Vitamin D Experts' Forum at the Wellcome Trust in London, England on Thursday 7 April 2011

2011-04-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

I was there! See below.

The Vitamin D Association is running a major event in London designed to give an overview of the range of illnesses and treatments where Vitamin D is involved.

Speakers include Dr. Michael F. Holick, Dr. Reinhold Vieth, Dr. William B. Grant, Carole Baggerly, and Dr. David Grimes.

There will be ample time allocated to participate in open discussion about new treatment guidelines and protocols and to share your knowledge and clinical experiences.

The event is targeted at senior medical personnel, general practitioners, nutritionists, dieticians and other health care professionals.

Timetable

08:30 Registration
09:30 Chairman’s opening remarks. Rufus Greenbaum (Vitamin D Project Manager, Systems Biology Laboratory)
09:35 Vitamin D: A D-lightful story for good health. Dr Michael F Holick
10:30 UK Overview – Statistics about Vitamin D in the UK. Rufus Greenbaum
10:45 Discussion
11:00 Break
11:15 The Impact of improving Vitamin D levels – health & financial outcomes. Dr William B Grant
11:45 Vitamin D & Cancer – current trials and evidence. Carole Baggerly
12:15 Discussion
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Public Policy on Vitamin D. Dr Oliver Gillie
2:00 Clinical experiences in a UK hospital. Dr David Grimes
2:30 Discussion
2:45 Break
3:00 Treatment & Toxicity – Benefits and dangers of supplementing with Vitamin D. Dr Reinhold Vieth
3:30 Discussion – All
4:30 Closing Remarks. Mike Fischer, Director, Systems Biology Laboratory

Here's a graphic from the Forum:-

What I found interesting is the fact that some medical conditions follow a J curve vs serum 25(OH)D level. This suggests that people may be suffering from deficiencies in some of the other fat-soluble vitamins (A, E's & K's) due to the modern fad for low-fat diets. Hypovitaminosis K2 results in inappropriate calcification at high serum 25(OH)D level, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.

Unfortunately, the fact that highish (greater-than 50nmol/L, or 20ng/mL) serum 25(OH)D levels can cause harm, results in continuing Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt about Vitamin D and "expert" (e.g. the US Institute Of Medicine) advice that 600iu/day is sufficient for optimum health. See 7th April 2011: Vitamin D - Experts' Forum for more info'.

Anyway, here's me and my God-daughter Kerrie getting some free Vitamin D on Wednesday evening!

Cheers!

Has anybody seen my tinfoil hat?

2011-04-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

This morning, I left two comments on Peter(Hyperlipid)'s blog. The second one has disappeared. EDIT: It went into the spam filter. It's visible again.

Some time later, Jay Bryant phoned me and asked me where my blog had gone.

"It's still there" I said, then refreshed the page. "Shit, it's gone!"

I managed to reinstate my Blog but apparently, there has been "unusual activity" on it. Hmmm. I just noticed that I'm following my own blog! How did that happen? Spurious follow now deleted.

This calls for a music video...

New beginnings, cot'd.

2011-03-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

As a result of New beginnings. , I've demolished my wall and I now want to start a new relationship. I've got a lot of love to give and I want to find that special lady to give it to. Here's the ideal music video.

I won't be blogging so much in future.

P.S. Mum had a Mini Mental State Examination today. She got a score of 12 (out of 28 things that she was physically capable of). 6 months ago, she got a score of 9 (out of 27 things that she was physically capable of). Ketogenic Diet For The Win.

The next test in 6 months time will show the effect of Vitamin D3 supplementation. I found out on Wednesday 23rd March that she is being given 5,000iu/day of D3. I didn't expect that to happen.

Being Human.

2011-03-15T03:20:00.001-07:00

I recommend this TV series to UK readers. Series 3 is available on iPlayer until 20th March 2011. The last episode was utterly gripping and it had me in tears of laughter one minute and in tears of sadness the next. I've started to sing as I walk down the street. Being human again is great. That is all.

Get in!

2011-03-12T00:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a music video.

Yesterday, at mum's nursing home, the nurse in charge called my name. She sounded rather stern, so I thought that I was going to get a wrist slap for talking too loudly again (as I do). But no.

She said that I hadn't done anything wrong. She wanted to talk about mum's Vitamin D blood test result. My eyes lit up. She said that the result had been temporarily "mislaid" (whatever that means), but that they had now found it and it was "normal" at 98nmol/L (RR 50-140nmol/L). Divide by 2.5 to convert into ng/mL. I said that I already knew this as I had spoken to Dr F**'s secretary.

She then said with a smirk "Dr F** knows what you're like (I also smirked) and has agreed that mum can have a serum Vitamin D level of around 125nmol/L. He said to buy some of this." She handed me a piece of paper with the word "cholecalciferol" written on it.

What should have happened next: I put my left hand in my right inside jacket pocket and whipped out a tub of Healthy Origins, Vitamin D3, 5,000 IU, 360 Softgels (use discount code NIG935 to get $5 off the first order. Standard shipping $4) with flair and panache.

What actually happened next: The pot got jammed in my right inside jacket pocket and I had to tug on the damned thing for about 5 seconds before it finally came out.

I handed the pot to the nurse and told her to get on with it. Job done!

Both Sides Now: Emotions

2011-03-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

The original post vanished for no apparent reason, so I have recreated it from memory.

I used to be like in the following music video:-

I've now completely torn down my "wall" and am experiencing emotions again. Some are good and some are bad. I've got years of repressed grief bottled up and the following Elton John song is a great way to let it out:-

Ditto for this Adele song:-

And this one too:-

"I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart away."

Will the real methylglyo*al please stand up?

2011-03-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

Firstly, a music video. I don't like Eminem that much, but my God-daughter Kerrie does and I love her to bits, so this one's for you hun! ;-D

A new substance just made an appearance on the internets. It's methylglyoacal (MG). It sounds rather a lot like methylglyoxal (MG).

I did a Google search for methylglyoacal. Did I mean...?

I did a PubMed search for methylglyoacal. Did I mean...?

The information originated from Pharmacology researchers link high-carb diet to Type 2 diabetes.

On the University of Saskatchewan's site, Dr. Kaushik Desai's Research Interests states: "Role of methylglyoxal (a byproduct of glucose metabolism) in oxidative stress, hypertension and insulin resistance." In his publications list, methylglyoxal is mentioned many times. I emailed Mark Ferguson, asking:

"Dear Mr Ferguson,
Is there a new substance called Methylglyoacal? Or is it a mis-print of methylglyoxal - twice?
Regards, Nigel Kinbrum."

To which I received the reply:

"Hello Nigel,
I'm going to go with the answer "no" … But we are looking into it.
Thanks for the head up."

The information in the above link was edited. At 02:21 on 11th March 2011, it still contained the word methylglyoacal. By 19:00 on 11th March 2011, it had changed to methylglyoxal.

It's not Friday the 13th, but...

2011-03-04T03:16:00.000-08:00

My car broke down this morning. It started, then died and the engine isn't firing at all. I made some phone calls, as I was supposed to be visiting mum today. Oh, poo!

Update: Car fixed! The engine management had flooded the engine with petrol. The exact same thing happened many years ago with my previous car after I started the engine so that I could move the car a few feet to allow someone to move their vehicle. The cure back then was to crank the engine for a minute with the throttle fully depressed. I tried that, but the battery in my MX-5 is old and the weather was cold, so it started to flag after about 10 seconds. A chap from Yateley MOT Centre jump-started it, for no call-out charge. That's Yateley MOT Centre Ltd, 19 Plough Rd, Yateley, GU46 7UW 01252 876231.

While waiting for a call from my local garage, I thought I'd do a spot of surfing on t'interwebs. I clicked on a PubMed link and got a blank page with the title "backend-exception Exception from Backend: bePfetch (%23PmXmlSrv): TxClient+was+unable+to+resolve+%23PmXmlSrv - PubMed result".

As I'm getting a lot of visits from people Googling the above helpful message, here's my expert opinion on the problem (as an ex-Engineer): Oh, f*ck. The f*cking f*cker's f*cked!

Update: PubMed fixed!

On a completely different subject, here's a video clue to a home improvement that I've just had installed.

Here's a picture clue.

Any ideas?

The answer is...

The Feed In Tariff (which increases by 5% each year) is currently 43.3p per kWh generated, plus 3.1p per kWh exported to the grid. There's also a saving of approximately 13.5p per kWh on electricity not used from the grid. This figure is approximate, as there are two tariffs for electricity used from the grid depending on the number of kWh used.

Pru, it's kicking off!

2011-03-02T01:08:00.000-08:00

Firstly, here's the video to go with the title...

As a nerd, I can be irritating. I often play Devil's Advocate when I read something that I think is unfair. So when I felt that Dr Harris was being unfair to Olive Oil, I just had to leave the following two-part comment (the second part was in reply to somebody else's comment).

"Hi.
My Aldi EVOO has a pufa content of only 6.6%. That's a lower percentage than lard (from grain-fed pigs). I use a "splash" (~10ml) for cooking (0.66g of pufas).
Nige.
P.S. Can you please move "Log in" to the top. I keep forgetting where it is!
P.P.S. RE Ketogenic Diets for Epilepsy, Dementia etc: Branched chain amino acids (e.g. Whey protein) are a good adjunct. See Branched chain amino acids as adjunctive therapy to ketogenic diet in epilepsy: pilot study and hypothesis."

Dr Harris replied...

"Hi NIgel
I am not sure what your point is. I don't advocate lard either so why compare your EVOO to it?
Even if it is really "only" 7% it is unopposed linoleic acid and heavier in unsaturated MUFA than animal fats, which have more SFA. And of course Olive Oil CAN be much higher than this in n-6, up to 20%.
And why not compare it to pastured butter which is 2% n-6 and 2% n-3 in perfect balance, and is cheaper on a caloric basis?
Olive oil is still a TemPO in my world - more n-6 than necessary, no useful n-3 and not enough LCSFA.
But obviously you can eat whatever you want. It sounds like you are using it as a condiment anyway. My point is don't make a staple or cook with it and I stand by that."

Unfortunately, when I posted my above comment, it ended up in the wrong blog post due to the site freezing and me refreshing the page. I requested that my comment be moved, as the second part of it was in reply to a comment elsewhere. Request denied.

As I mentioned in my nerd post, body language = Double-Dutch. There was a subtle hint above. I completely missed it! I emailed Dr Harris.
"Hi.

My reply didn’t have a point – I just felt like mentioning that the EVOO that I buy isn’t particularly high in n-6. I always thought that OO was ~10% pufas. The reply was supposed to be to There is No Such Thing as a Macronutrient Part I – Fats as it contained a link about BCAAs enhancing ketosis. Your site froze and when I refreshed the page, I didn’t notice that the url in the address bar had changed.

Now that you have changed your views on ketosis, carbs etc, are you going to update some of your old blog posts?

Cheers, Nige."

The reply that I received was rather unexpected and can be seen HERE. What the **** just happened? I emailed back.

"Hi Kurt,

Don’t believe me, then. Delete my reply on your blog if it’s that annoying to you. I have my style and you have yours.

You obviously haven’t read my blog post about GCBC where I wrote that I agree with 99% of what Gary has written, but it’s the 1% that I disagree with that I’m arguing about because it means that calories do count.

Yes, I update my old blog posts with updated information when I learn new stuff. Blogs aren’t books.

There have been plenty of insults slung from the other side on Gary’s blog. If you think that my posts show a sneering disrespect for Gary then that’s your problem, not mine. I’m glad to have been of help in something.

Nigel Kinbrum"

As I respect Dr Harris, I am extending an Olive branch (Damn! Why does it have to be a freakin' Olive branch?). Unfortunately I don't drink beer, so I'll raise a virtual glass of Californian Red instead. Cheers!

It's all about ME, baby! (Birth - 1997)

2011-02-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

It's all about ME, baby! (1997 - present) is my story after discovering the Atkins Diet. This is my story up to that point. I was born one snowy Winter's day. Mum told me that my cot was placed next to an open window in Central Middlesex Hospital. That explains a lot! Here's mum, me and my sister.

I don't remember much about my early years. As we were relatively poor (dad was a tailor and mum did typing for a solicitor), getting regular French Fancies & Corona lemonade deliveries was considered a status symbol. I ran around in the street with other kids of my age but I was fat. I was also very short for my age (insufficient GH from my pituitary?) and was rubbish at sports in primary school. Here's a photo taken when I was about 9 or 10. I'm the shortest boy in the picture.

Stripy shirts were all the rage, apparently. Even at this tender age, I used to regularly fall asleep after eating a plate of chips.

In secondary school, sports was dreadful what with having to play cricket using a cricket ball (instead of a tennis ball), contact sports, swimming and showers. Being short, fat & under-developed, I was embarrassed to get undressed in front of my peers, so I developed the art of forging sick notes in my mum's handwriting. I was a very sickly child! ;-D

My forging skills resulted in the total avoidance of swimming (also contact sports, cross-country running etc) and a big improvement in the quality of my handwriting! With tennis, I had to travel to a tennis court by train. I didn't mind doing that, as there were no showers at the tennis courts and I could play the game for a while until I overheated. Secondary school was where I developed a total hatred for almost all sports and when I left, that was the end of exercise as far as I was concerned. When I left secondary school at the age of 18, I was 4 feet 9 inches tall.

At university, I would have a cheese & ham salad baguette washed down with a can of Coke (non-diet in those days) for lunch, followed by a snooze.

At work, I would have a cheese & raw onion roll washed down with a can of Coke for tea-break, followed by a snooze. Here's me at the age of 26. At some point, my pituitary gland "woke up" and secreted GH, as I grew to 6 feet 1 inch tall in my twenties.

I did manage to get some work done!

When I was dating, I jogged/walked for over 4 miles a day to see my girlfriend. I got slim. After I married, that stopped and as I was a skint Electronic Engineer and Lesley was a skint Cake Decorator, my diet was predominantly cheap stuff like bread, pasta, potatoes & rice. The result? Lots of snoozes + lots of fat mass gain. I was a lazy git, apparently.

In 1992, Lesley left to live with her mother. In 1994, I started dating Eileen. At parties, I became (in)famous for falling asleep after eating nibbles made from refined carbohydrates.

"Funny turns": What they aren't and what they might be.

2011-02-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, doing a large amount of high-intensity exercise while on a ketogenic diet can result in a "Funny turn", i.e. a weird feeling which may include sweating, dizzyness & feeling faint.

The good news is that it's harmless, provided you don't faint, fall and hurt yourself. Stop and sit/lie down until the feeling passes. So, what's happening?

What isn't happening is a Somogyi rebound. A Somogyi rebound only happens when too much insulin is injected and it's bad because it results in hyperglycaemia.

Did you know that there is insulin, insulin and insulin? According to Insulin: Degradation, "It has been estimated that an insulin molecule produced endogenously by the pancreatic beta cells is degraded within approximately one hour after its initial release into circulation (insulin half-life ~ 4–6 minutes)". According to Insulin: As a medication, injected insulin lingers in the blood for hours for fast-acting and days for slow-acting. This makes an overdose of injected insulin dangerous, as it can linger for long enough to cause fatal hypoglycaemia unless medical help is obtained.

What might be happening is this: On a ketogenic diet, muscle glycogen stores are "trickle-charged" using blood glucose. High-intensity exercise burns muscle glycogen at a very rapid rate. See It's all in a day's work (as measured in Joules). Muscles can burn carbs at a rate of 4g a minute.

If muscles run low/out of glycogen, muscle cells become exquisitely sensitive to insulin as glucose importing processes are up-regulated. There is only about 4.5g of glucose in the blood at any given time, topped-up by the liver and burned by the brain & red blood cells at a rate of less than 4g an hour (if keto-adapted). If muscles start to draw in 4g of glucose a minute, blood glucose can vanish very quickly.

As dropping dead due to running for your life on very little or no food is bad, the body has several mechanisms for raising blood glucose very quickly.

From Blood Glucose, Insulin & Diabetes, "When BG falls to about 3.3mmol/L, the pituitary gland kicks-in and secretes ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) which stimulates the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex. Cortisol further stimulates gluconeogenesis in the liver. When BG level falls to about 2mmol/L, the pituitary secretes GH (Growth Hormone) which has an anti-insulin effect." When this happens, you feel really weird, so you stop exercising. That acts as a natural limiter.

So why is it harmless? Glycogen-depleted & exquisitely insulin-sensitive muscles act as a natural blood glucose limiter because they draw in glucose so readily. There is no hyperglycaemia.

This also reduces the "Dawn Phenomenon", another plus point for low-carb diets for diabetics.

Mum's Proposed Ketogenic Diet for Dementia.

2011-02-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

The following diet is not intended to induce deep ketosis. It's intended to be a trade-off between ketosis, palatability & simplicity.

Feedback from the nurse on duty:- "Eggs shouldn't be in the "unlimited" list. You're not supposed to eat more than two eggs a week because of the cholesterol". God Bless the NHS! The British Heart Foundation doesn't impose a restriction on egg consumption.

Eggs can be eaten as part of a balanced diet.

Mum's currently eating two eggs a day in her cooked breakfasts.

Effect of dietary egg on human serum cholesterol and triglycerides.

Old people have the lowest mortality when their serum cholesterol is higher than average.

Total cholesterol and risk of mortality in the oldest old.
Cholesterol and all-cause mortality in elderly people from the Honolulu Heart Program: a cohort study.
Low total cholesterol and increased risk of dying: are low levels clinical warning signs in the elderly? Results from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
Higher total serum cholesterol levels are associated with less severe strokes and lower all-cause mortality: ten-year follow-up of ischemic strokes in the Copenhagen Stroke Study.
Serum total cholesterol levels and all-cause mortality in a home-dwelling elderly population: a six-year follow-up.
Lipid-lowering treatment to the end? A review of observational studies and RCTs on cholesterol and mortality in 80+-year olds.

Paul Jaminet is doing a series on ketogenic diets.
Ketogenic Diets, I: Ways to Make a Diet Ketogenic
Ketogenic Diets 2: Preventing Muscle and Bone Loss on Ketogenic Diets

Both Sides Now: Medications

2011-02-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

People are distrustful of prescription drugs. Drug Companies = Big Pharma and all that. However, medications have their plus side and their minus side. It all depends.

Some medications give the body something that it needs that it's not sufficiently producing e.g. Insulin (Type 1 diabetes), Adrenaline/Epinephrine (Anaphylactic shock), Corticosteroids (Addison's Disease), Thyroxine (Hypothyroidism), HCG, HGH, trans-dermal Testosterone/Progesterone (Hypopituitarism), Oestrogen (HRT). Bio-identical hormones are fine. Synthetic hormones, not so fine. See The fatal flaw of prescription drugs.

Some medications act as dietary supplements e.g. Adcal-D3 (Calcium & Vitamin D3), Lovaza (EPA & DHA), Effercitrate (Potassium & Citrate). These are also fine.

It's the medications that tweak metabolic pathways that can cause problems.

There are enzyme inhibitors e.g. Statins, Mono-Amine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs), Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) etc. The problem with these is that inhibiting the conversion of "A" into "B" results not only in less "B, C, D etc" but also in more "A". Statins not only reduce serum cholesterol but also reduce the level of Coenzyme Q 10 and other useful substances. MAOIs (e.g. Moclobemide & St John's Wort) cause high blood pressure if foods & drugs high in amines are consumed. ACEIs (e.g. Ramipril) cause an increase in serum bradykinin which can irritate lungs causing a persistent dry tickly cough. I've had this happen.

There are receptor agonists & receptor antagonists (blockers). Agonists occupy receptors and produce a larger effect than the substance naturally found in the body. Antagonists occupy receptors and produce a smaller effect than the substance naturally found in the body.

Alpha blockers (e.g. Tamsulosin hydrochloride) block alpha adrenoreceptors and are used to treat urinary retention, as they relax smooth muscle in the urethra. Unfortunately, they also cause postural hypotension, as when you stand up, arteries don't contract as much as they should to raise the blood pressure in the brain. I've had this happen.

Beta blockers (e.g. Atenolol & Propranolol) block beta adrenoreceptors and are used to treat high blood pressure and/or anxiety as they slow down the heart and also block the effects of adrenaline/epinephrine on the brain. Dutch courage in a pill! Unfortunately, the heart is supposed to speed up when you exercise and failure to do so makes exercise very difficult if not impossible. Tolerance can also develop, resulting in zero long-term efficacy. I've had this happen.

Angiotensin 2 receptor blockers (e.g. Candesartan Cilexetil) are used to treat high blood pressure as they relax artery walls. These work fine without any obvious side-effects, but there's a study showing a slightly increased (~6%) risk factor for cancer. In some people, Renal Artery Stenosis (narrowing) can occur, but a blood test detects this.

Diuretics (e.g. Bendroflumethiazide) increase urinary output and are used to treat high blood pressure & water retention. Unfortunately, increasing urinary output can cause dehydration & increased thirst, resulting in increased fluid intake i.e. zero net effect. I've had this happen.

Thiazoladinediones (e.g. Rosiglitazone) create new (& empty) fat cells, which allow for the increased disposal of excess serum glucose. Unfortunately, the cells that turn into new fat cells were supposed to have turned into bone cells, so the risk factor for osteoporosis increases.

High-dose Niacin & Fish Oils reduce serum triglycerides by inhibiting the conversion of excess serum glucose into fatty acids (which are esterified into triglycerides). This can increase serum glucose (which is bad).

It's like trying to get a balloon into a box that's too small. You can get most of it in, but another bit bulges out when you try to get the last bit in. Instead of tweaking your metabolism to compensate for your bad diet and/or lifestyle, you should correct your bad diet and/or lifestyle.

The usual suspects.

2011-02-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

On Facebook, on messageboards and face to face, I keep seeing & hearing:-

1) I feel low in the Winter/I keep catching colds/I have a lot of allergies/I have aches & pains.

2) I feel low a lot of the time.

3) I feel anxious/I can't sleep/I keep getting muscle spasms or cramps/I'm constipated.

1) Hypovitaminosis D is rampant at this time of year (~90% of people have serum calcidiol less than 75nmol/L or 30ng/mL). People should be getting 50iu of Vitamin D3/kg body weight/day. See Vitamin D

2) Modern diets are very low in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA) from oily fish. See Omega-3 fatty acids and major depression: A primer for the mental health professional

3) Modern diets are high in Calcium & low in Magnesium. Hypercalcaemia/hypomagnesaemia can cause some or all of the above symptoms. See Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

Here's a picture to go with the title.

And finally...
I am so glad that I don't work with David Thorne.

You pusillanimous pipsqueak!

2011-02-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

Who said that? To whom? Answer HERE.
We're all insignificant in the scheme of things. Here's another Eric Idle classic.

"And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth." LOL.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that I'm invisible. I write about stuff and a few weeks later, people are arguing about stuff that I've written about. For instance...

What becomes Insulin Resistant first? Liver, Muscle or Fat-mass?
CarbSane says "Where does insulin resistance start? The adipose tissue."
Stephan Guyenet says "I'm not so sure that insulin resistance begins in adipose tissue."

So who's right? They both are. As Lyle McDonald says "It all depends." Referring to Insulin Resistance: Solutions to problems, whatever fills up first becomes IR first. Or have I got it all wrong? Comments, please!

Am I even more insignificant because I have an Engineering Degree but zero qualifications in the field of diet & nutrition? Dr Richard K Bernstein used to be an Engineer. He's done very well as a doctor.

Bearing in mind the title, I'd better put a picture of me below.

I'm NOT a nutritionist, I'm a very naughty boy!

2011-02-19T01:33:00.000-08:00

With apologies to Monty Python and Pål Jåbekk, whose recent blog post Kurt Harris, the messiah, the hype and the throwing of scales featured the sketch from Monty Python's Life of Brian (MPLOB) from which I got the title idea. Here's another clip from MPLOB which sums-up me these days...

I'm in an annoyingly (to some people) positive mood at the moment. Anyway, back to the subject.

On Friday 18th February, Jay (of Jay's Kitchen) described me as nutritionist to a customer. I pointed out that I am not, never have been and never will be a nutritionist. I do talk about diet & nutrition rather a lot, though. Sometimes, this can be a total turn-off, so I need to learn to shut my mouth before this happens.

For instance, I was talking to a very overweight & diabetic friend at karaoke on Thursday night after he mentioned that he had had multiple laser treatments for diabetic retinopathy. I pointed out that they can't laser kidneys back together when they fail due to excessively-high blood glucose. He mentioned a pile of daily medications that he had to take.

I mentioned Steve Cooksey and the fact that Steve had gone from fat & diabetic on a pile of daily medications to slim & non-diabetic on zero daily medications, and the fact that I had slimmed down and completely eliminated my glucose intolerance by using Vitamin D3, exercise & a low-carb diet. The 2nd & 3rd items in my list must have gone too far, as he got up to sing and when he finished singing, he sat somewhere else. He hasn't de-friended me on Facebook....yet!

Anyway, here's a link to How It Should Have Ended.

Here's the obligatory picture.

I posted the above picture because a) I used to really enjoy "The Good Life", b) I used to really fancy Felicity Kendall and c) Penelope Keith's character Margo had irony off to a fine art with "Well thank you very much!". Please note:-

In the US, "Thanks a bunch!" means "Thank you very much".
In the UK, "Thanks a bunch!" means what Margo meant.

By the way, I don't do irony. It usually goes right over my head and it doesn't work well in print without smilies. I'm not being ironic with what I just wrote. No, really. I'm not!

A-ha! Another mystery solved.

2011-02-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

With a title like that, there can be only one...

If you recall, in Keep 'em tight, I persuaded mum's GP to make recommendations to mum's care home re: Diet & Exercise. If you also recall, in Well, stone the (expletive deleted) crows!, agency carers were unaware of mum's GP's recommendations. Today, I had this for lunch:-

It's the same picture as in a post below, but it looked and tasted so good that I felt the need to post it again. After lunch, I asked the nurse in charge for mum's care plan.

There was no mention of mum's GP's recommendations in the care plan. I am awaiting a phone call from mum's GP tomorrow to find out what the **** is going on.

Update tomorrow.

EDIT: It's now Thursday 17th February. I received the call from mum's GP. He told the nurse who was in charge that day (Tuesday 1st Feb) to get specific information regarding exercise & diet from me. He doesn't know the name of the nurse who was in charge that day. I will be making enquiries. The book will be getting more entries, with fluorescent pink blobs to highlight them.

Some of mum's blood test results have come in. Her B12 is fine. Her calcium is on the high side, so she can stop taking two Adcal-D3 per day (which she hates as they're like chewing on chalk). Vitamin D result not in, yet. Two Adcal-D3 per day gave her only 800iu/day.

EDIT: It's now Friday 18th February. I saw a different nurse in charge today and asked her what was going on. She showed me mum's care folder and it contained the letter that I had written to mum's GP. On Wednesday, I was shown pages from the care folder but not the letter. A-ha! The nurse asked me to clarify mum's diet, so I got my green, orange & pink marker pens out and wrote a rough guide as to what mum could eat in unlimited amounts, in moderation and in very limited amounts. I photographed the guide and will be producing a tidy version on Word.

A carer said to me today "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it! Yesterday, your mum used her 3 wheeled walker unaided and found her own way to the dining room". Oh, wow!

Just wait until her Vitamin D status is improved. The last time I did that (in 2008), mum's MMSE score shot up from 14/30 to 26/30. Aricept also helped, but it usually gives only a 2 point increase.

Is there anybody out there?

2011-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

'Cos there ain't mushroom in here (ouch!). Cue music video.

I've spotted a variety of fungi growing in my area. Here are some pictures. I think that I know which ones are poisonous, but I'm hoping that someone knowledgable will tell me for certain.

No.1 Found growing on a dead tree stump in my garden. I think non-poisonous.

No.2 Found growing at the base of a live tree in the woods. I think non-poisonous.

No.3 Found growing amongst dead leaves in the woods. I think poisonous.

In other news, mum got a mystery Valentine card on Monday. She managed to get it out of the envelope (despite having a bad tremor) after I got it started for her, and she also managed to read the words on the front of the card and inside. I videoed each event. The book got four green blobs (I use pink & green highlighters to highlight bad & good news) that day!

Weekend link lurve.

2011-02-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

Today, I built a bird table. Ta-da!

My sister bought this in kit form about a year ago, but couldn't find anyone to assemble it for her. I live about 40 miles away and, having been a bit occupied with mum's illness & (lack of) care, didn't get around to visiting her until today. I also fault-found her Hitachi TV (which uses a cathode ray tube) and inadvertently fixed her digi-box by accidentally rebooting it!

Before I drove there, I noticed that the YouTube videos in my blog weren't playing. I don't know what went wrong, but I've had to change the embed code on all of them from the new "iframe src=" style to the older "embed src=" style and they appear to be working again. Here's the weekend link Locked in a Vegas Hotel Room with a Phantom Flex.

Well, stone the (expletive deleted) crows!

2011-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Mum got a letter from the DWP today requesting her new address. I gave it to her to read.

Two fuels for the brain are definitely better than one. When I returned to the home after lunch, I found that an agency carer had given mum chocolate pudding for dessert, as she hadn't been informed about mum's low-carb diet. Mum was semi-conscious. It's now written in the book.

I found Brian/Brianna on my driveway this morning, so I moved him/her to a safer place.

The wet weather is bringing out the amphibians. I nearly trod on a frog during my walk last night. I ran home to get my camera (my phone doesn't have a flash) but when I returned, he/she had hopped it.

Credit where credit's due.

2011-02-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

I've had a busy day today. In the morning I got a man in to fix a broken underground sewer pipe. It was broken when I moved into the house in 1991, but I was quoted £600 to dig up the path and replace the pipe back then. I couldn't afford that, so I rodded the pipe every few years to clear any blockages.

In the spirit of New beginnings, I decided to "get it sorted". So I got a man who knows about these things in. It cost under £100 to do the job, as the whole pipe didn't need to be replaced. That's Karl Gratton, Aldershot, Hants. 07851 894256. Here's an "after" photo after chucking a couple of buckets of water down to clear the cobwebs. I didn't take a "before" photo, but there was a hole in the bottom of the inspection chamber (now cemented) as well as the broken pipe.

After Karl left, I walked to my local Waitrose. By pavement, it's a 20 minute walk, so I took a short-cut through the woods. It was pouring with rain, the path was very muddy and full of puddles. I felt a strange sensation....

My soles had cracked. Oh, wow! What an amazingly heavy bummer!

When I got to Waitrose, I was dismayed to see that they had sold out of Burgen Soya & Linseed bread, as I had a 50p coupon that expires today. Two assistants (Sally & Barbara) told me that I could get 50p off on a future visit if I showed them the coupon. I bought some nosh as a treat for the soggy walk home. While I was waiting at the checkout, Sally (or maybe Barbara) approached me, holding a loaf of Burgen. Now that's what I call customer service! That's Waitrose, Tresham Crescent, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6FR - 01252 861888.

EDIT: When I'm in Henley, I have lunch at Jay's Kitchen. I phone/text my order in advance and get a freshly-cooked Full English (2 bacon, 2 sausage, 2 egg, baked beans, fried onions, mushrooms & tomatoes) for £3. There's a table & 2 chairs on the pavement. That's Jay's Kitchen, Newtown Rd, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

EDIT: Today (16th February), I got this:-

EDIT: Just around the corner, also on Newtown Rd is a car wash done by hand. A basic wash is £6 and a full inside & outside clean is £12. I was given a free bottle of water to drink.

And finally...

I want to give credit to....Gary Taubes *sound of people fainting*. His curate's egg Good Calories, Bad Calories is good in parts. The parts about the Diet-Heart Hypothesis, I completely agree with, as I have read The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo, which pretty much ties-up with The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr Malcolm Kendrick, which pretty much ties-up with Ignore the awkward! How the cholesterol myths are kept alive by Uffe Ravnskov. See also The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics.

Here's a picture to warm the cockles of your heart.

When you get the bad parts sorted, we'll stop prodding you with a pointy stick!

Food, glorious food!

2011-02-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

This post (inspired by Galina L) will be a trip down food-chain lane, starting at the bottom and working upwards. Humans are at the top (but not always).

1) Bacteria: The Vitamin B12 produced by certain bacteria is the only usable form that vegans will consume, so vegans should either not wash root veggies before cooking, or they should supplement with bacterial-sourced B12.

2) Algae: The EPA & DHA in algae are the only forms that vegans will consume, but beware. EPA has five C=C double-bonds and DHA has six, which makes them very unstable. EPA & DHA that are not inside a plant/animal should be kept cold and away from light.

3) Fungi & Yeasts: I don't have much to say about these other than they are a good source of B Vitamins other than B12. Mushrooms are tasty. Ditto yeast extract (though you either love it or you hate it). Quorn is made from a fungus.

4) Plants: The hotter the climate, the higher the saturated fat content of a fruit/nut/seed. Coconuts have the highest saturated fat content (~91%). The hotter the climate, the lower the pufa content of a fruit/nut/seed. Coconuts have the lowest pufa content (~2%). See the Comparison of dietary fats chart below.

Olives grow in many countries, some hotter than others. The Solesta EVOO that I buy from Aldi has a pufa content of 6.6%. However, some olive oils can have a pufa content as high as 20%.

5) Krill: The EPA & DHA in Krill oil can be consumed as a dietary supplement. The warning that applies to algal EPA & DHA also applies to Krill oil. Krill oil is a good source of Astaxanthin.

6) Fish: Fish that live in warm waters are low in oil (the oil in their livers is rich in Vitamins A & D). Fish that live in cold waters need antifreeze. EPA & DHA have very low freezing points (-54°C & -44°C respectively). The EPA & DHA in Fish oil can be consumed as a dietary supplement. The warning that applies to algal EPA & DHA also applies to Fish oil. See When it comes to fish oil, more is not better. Large fish (e.g. sharks) can eat us.

7) Amphibians: Frog's legs are a delicacy in some countries. What amphibians do you like to eat?

8) Reptiles: Turtle soup, anyone? Large reptiles (e.g. crocodiles) can eat us.

9) Marine mammals: As these are warm-blooded, they have a lower pufa content than fish. However, blubber is cold on the outside, so it's high in EPA & DHA. Large marine mammals (e.g. Killer whales) can eat us.

10) Mammals: As these are warm-blooded, they have a lower pufa content than fish. The pufa content depends a lot on what the mammal eats. Ruminants can eat a wide variety of diets and still maintain a reasonable omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their body-fat. Large mammals (big cats, big dogs and big bears) can eat us.

11) Humans: Many years ago, we ate anything edible that was around, lived outdoors and moved ourselves around using our muscles. We've done well, without modern medicine to save us from infections & injuries (and maybe difficult childbirths).

Nowadays, we eat what's in the shops, live & work indoors and have labour-saving gadgets to do our physical work for us. We're having problems, despite modern medicine.

False dichotomies: Good or Bad?

2011-02-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

The false dichotomy a.k.a. false dilemma is an example of black and white thinking i.e. everything is either "good" or "bad" with no shades of grey in-between.

On a popular body-building forum that I post on, I often see posts titled "Is *insert name of food here* good or bad?" I would like to grab the poster by the collar and give him/her a good shake, except that they are almost certainly bigger & stronger than I am and would "Smash me in" (an in-joke on that forum).

I've noticed the same effect elsewhere on the internet where certain things are deemed to be good (e.g. meat from grass-fed animals) or bad (e.g. omega-6 pufas). With man-made trans-fats, there's little doubt. They're bad!

Consider the following curve.

Just about everything food-related follows a J-curve, with amount on the horizontal axis and harm on the vertical axis.

Too little results in starvation/deficiency and too much results in obesity/toxicity. Even dietary carbohydrate can follow a J-curve. See Dangers of Zero-Carb Diets, I: Can There Be a Carbohydrate Deficiency? and Dangers of Zero-Carb Diets, II: Mucus Deficiency and Gastrointestinal Cancers.

The other problem with "good" & "bad" is down to human nature. People think that if "healthy fats" are good, then eating 10 times as much "healthy fats" is better. They also think that if too much sun exposure is bad, then zero sun exposure is better.

Like Goldilocks' porridge, there is a "just right" for everything. See Hormesis.

Comments Enabled.

2011-02-06T03:43:00.000-08:00

Any resemblance to a post by another blogger is completely intentional.

I like to think that this blog functions a bit like Wikipedia. Each post is peppered with hyperlinks.

I post music videos, as they add variety to what is otherwise a rather dry subject. I also post pictures, as they make my blog stand out on listing sites like Low Carb Daily and Paleobuzz.

A blog is not a book. Once a book is published, it becomes outdated as soon as new information appears. A blog is easily edited. Therefore, when I learn something new that makes the information in a blog post outdated, I edit the post to make the information current. I highlight edits in a different colour so that you can see what's changed.

So please use this blog as if it was Wikipedia - continually updated for accuracy.

I also pepper my posts with references, hyperlinked for your convenience. I am retired, so I have more free time on my hands than someone who is working full-time. However, I don't spend many hours typing my posts as I hate writing. I also have exercise to do!

I will never write a book. The e-book that I wrote in 2005 was a brain-dump and it's now completely outdated.

I don't mind writing blog posts. I also don't mind spending a little extra time compiling references and creating links. I will stop blogging when I'm either depressed, incapable, dead or have run out of ideas (whichever happens first).

I will never disable comments. Comments will always be moderated and I will always approve comments that don't contain excessive ****ing swearing, links to sites selling stuff, utterly pointless arguments etc. I learn a lot from your comments, so keep 'em coming!

Finally, any e-mails sent to me that contain opinionated and/or poorly-researched rants may be published here (and will put you in the blocked senders list). I prefer to keep things public. I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!

It's all in a day's work (as measured in Joules)

2011-02-05T03:29:00.000-08:00

The title is from the "Physics Man" sketch on The Now Show. Work is another word for energy and there are two different units for it.

The calorie (cal) is the amount of energy required to heat 1g of water by 1°C. This is a tiny amount of energy. The dietary Calorie (Cal) = 1,000cal = 1kcal.

The Joule (J) is the SI unit of energy. 1J = 1kg*m^2/s^2.
1Joule/sec = 1Watt (W).

1kcal = 4.186kJ.

At rest, an average human body uses ~1kcal/min = ~4,186J/min = ~69.8J/sec = ~69.8W.

The brain uses ~5g of glucose/hour = 18.75kcal/hour (1g of carb = 3.75kcals, usually rounded-up to 4) = 78487.5J/hour = ~21.8W.

The heart uses ~10W. The liver, kidneys, gut and lungs run continuously so they use energy all of the time.

Skeletal muscle uses a variable amount of energy using a variable proportion of fuels, depending on what you're doing with it. A chap called Steve sent me a spreadsheet of results in 2004 when he underwent a metabolic test on a stationary bike while breathing through a respiratory gas analyser, which calculated kcals burned and fuel usage by measuring Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER).

At~1kcal/min (resting), he burned ~95% from fat (~0.11g/min), ~5% from carbs (~0.01g/min).
At 2kcal/min (12% max), he burned 100% from fat (0.22g/min), 0% from carbs (0.00g/min).
At 3kcal/min (18% max), he burned 100% from fat (0.33g/min), 0% from carbs (0.00g/min).
At 4kcal/min (24% max), he burned 99% from fat (0.44g/min), 1% from carbs (0.01g/min).
At 5kcal/min (29% max), he burned 48% from fat (0.27g/min), 52% from carbs (0.69g/min).
At 6kcal/min (35% max), he burned 62% from fat (0.41g/min), 38% from carbs (0.61g/min).
At 7kcal/min (41% max), he burned 58% from fat (0.45g/min), 42% from carbs (0.78g/min).
At 8kcal/min (47% max), he burned 46% from fat (0.41g/min), 54% from carbs (1.15g/min).
At 9kcal/min (53% max), he burned 42% from fat (0.53g/min), 58% from carbs (1.39g/min).
At 10kcal/min (59% max), he burned 44% from fat (0.49g/min), 56% from carbs (1.49g/min).
At 11kcal/min (65% max), he burned 38% from fat (0.46g/min), 62% from carbs (1.82g/min).
At 12kcal/min (71% max), he burned 41% from fat (0.55g/min), 59% from carbs (1.89g/min).
At 13kcal/min (76% max), he burned 37% from fat (0.53g/min), 63% from carbs (2.18g/min).
At 14kcal/min (82% max), he burned 30% from fat (0.47g/min), 70% from carbs (2.61g/min).
At 15kcal/min (88% max), he burned 14% from fat (0.23g/min), 86% from carbs (3.44g/min).
At 16kcal/min (94% max), he burned 0% from fat (0.00g/min), 100% from carbs (4.27g/min).
At 17kcal/min (100% max), he burned 0% from fat (0.00g/min), 100% from carbs (4.53g/min).

Over a wide range of intensities, the number of grams of fat Steve burned/min was fairly constant.

Note that 17kcals/min = 1186.6W, or 1.19kW. This level can be maintained for only a few seconds, as carbs are burned both aerobically and anaerobically, which exhausts PhosphoCreatine stores in muscles and also causes an accumulation of lactate in muscles. See Why do muscles hurt after exercise?

Muscle mass is very metabolically-active compared to fat mass, as one pound of fat mass burns only about 2kcal a day. See also Dissecting the Energy Needs of the Body – Research Review

Here's another Physics Man.

Inflammation: Is omega-6 really to blame?

2011-02-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the following diagram from Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways showing the omega-6 and omega-3 pathways.

Omega-6 pufas result in the production of Series 1 prostaglandins (anti-inflammatory) and Series 2 prostaglandins (inflammatory). Omega-3 pufas result in the production of Series 3 prostaglandins (anti-inflammatory).

Now, see Are diets high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids unhealthy?

"Insulin sensitivity might be the common factor relating disease to fatty acid metabolism — both within and between the fatty acid pathways. A high linoleate to arachidonate concentration occurs in insulin resistance, in diabetic complications and also in some tumours."

"Current epidemiological and clinical evidence supports the regular consumption of cold-water fish as part of a balanced diet, in which attention to lifestyle and the quantities eaten (to prevent obesity and the insulin resistance syndrome) may be more critical than the nature of the fatty acids consumed."

Do you see where I'm going with this? If you have insulin resistance, don't change your diet (low in carbs & avoiding omega-6) to suit the insulin resistance. Tackle the insulin resistance!

This isn't an open invitation to start guzzling high-pufa oils. Stick to oils that have been squeezed out of things that grow in hot climates. I include Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in this category. Check the label, as the pufa contents of different EVOOs vary. Solesta from Aldi contains only 6.6% pufas.

EDIT: In addition, your brain depends on omega-3 to function properly. Too much omega-6 can "fry" it. See Mental Health and Omega 3/6 Ratio, A New Review

I just spotted this on Anthony Colpo's Blog: The Adventures of Chris “Razzi” Razwell and Other Assorted Internet Psychos. Oh, my!

And finally: I made mum a CD of "Dare" by The Human League (I bought it in vinyl years ago) and played it on the CD/Record player in the lounge at the nursing home. She loved it and was moving her arms in time with the music. This is her favourite track from that album.

Move More: Solutions to problems.

2011-02-03T03:03:00.000-08:00

Continued from Eat Less, Move More: Solutions to problems.

Firstly, here's "On the rebound" by Floyd Cramer. This was a hit in 1961 and it was recently used in a Sainsbury's "Taste the Difference" advert on TV.

Move More: Problems and their solutions:
1) Exercise makes me eat too much afterwards. Have a small snack before exercising. Wrap up warm before you go outdoors as feeling cold stimulates appetite.

2) Exercise is boring. Take a camera with you when you go for a walk. Look around. There's lots of interesting stuff out there that you don't normally notice*. Vary your route so that you see new things each time. Zumba is fun!

3) It's too cold/wet/windy etc. Dress appropriately. Have a small treat when you get back, so that you have something nice to look forward to.

4) I hate doing "x". Don't do "x", then. Things that I will not do are swimming & team sports (really bad memories from school-days). I also won't do anything faster than a power walk (being 72" tall with 31" legs makes any exercise involving my feet hitting the ground uncomfortable and hard on my joints).

5) I don't have the time. Neither do I. I'm now on-line less than I used to be. I'm sure I'll live!

*I spotted a large photovoltaic solar panel on the roof of a house the other day. I knocked on the door and asked the occupants about it. Apparently, you get about 1kW from 10 square metres of panel and the Electricity supplier pays you about 43p for every kWh you generate. A 35 square metre system costs about £20,000.

When I realised that I had to get some exercise, it was a blow. Any news that is bad & inevitable takes some getting used to. See Kübler-Ross model. I have now accepted it.

Here's a school photo from when I was about 10.

Can you guess which one's me?

Any more problems & solutions that I haven't thought of?

Insulin Resistance: Solutions to problems.

2011-02-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

Before I start on what may be the most important thing that I've ever written, here's "Don't Stop Movin" by S Club 7. It's a clue to what's coming.

The problem:
Insulin Resistance (IR) is a major problem for a significant percentage of the population in the developed world. It can cause:-

High fasting serum glucose, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.
High post-prandial serum glucose, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Retinopathy, Neuropathy, Nephropathy (Kidney failure) amongst other things.
High serum cholesterol.
High serum triglycerides, which in conjunction with high serum cholesterol increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.
High serum Free Fatty Acids (a.k.a. FFAs a.k.a. NEFAs) from IR fat cells, which increases the risk factor for Sudden cardiac death and also worsens IR in liver & muscle cells.
High serum uric acid, which increases the risk factor for Gout and urate Kidney stones.
Hypertension, which raises the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Strokes and Kidney failure.
Excessive appetite after eating high-GL carbohydrates, due to rebound low serum blood glucose, leading to overeating and obesity.
Lethargy after eating almost anything, but especially after eating high-GL carbohydrates, due to compensatory hyperinsulinaemia.

The cause & solutions:
1) "Bad" genes. My genes aren't particularly good, but it is possible to change the expression of your genes.

2) Full cells. A full cell is an IR cell. Consider Liver, Muscle and Fat cells.

a) Liver cells: Liver cells are a 2-way street. "Stuff" (e.g. NEFAs, Glucose & Fructose) goes in and "stuff" (e.g. Ketones & Glucose) comes out. Glucose normally comes out of the liver at a rate of ~5g/hour to fuel the brain, but this can increase a lot under the control of Insulin, Glucagon & Cortisol. If more stuff goes in than comes out, liver glycogen stores fill up, & vice-versa. When liver glycogen stores become full, liver cells down-regulate processes that produce liver glycogen e.g. hexokinase and Glu-T2. Liver cells effectively become IR to stop more stuff from going in.

However, fructose uses Glu-T5 & fructokinase and "barges its way in". This is why fructose is a problem for people who have permanently full liver glycogen stores.

b) Muscle cells: Muscle cells are a 1-way street as far as Glucose is concerned, though Amino Acids can go in & come out. Muscle glycogen cannot be used to produce serum glucose - it can only be used by muscles. When muscle glycogen stores become full, muscle cells down-regulate processes that produce muscle glycogen e.g. hexokinase and Glu-T4. Muscle cells effectively become IR to stop more stuff from going in.

As per Everyone is Different., muscle cells use mostly fat at rest and lowish-intensity exercise. Glycogen usage increases rapidly as exercise intensity increases. Now do you see the significance of the music video above? Intense exercise (e.g. Running, Sprinting, Resistance training with weights, parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba) empties muscle cells and makes them very Insulin Sensitive.

This means that exercise is compulsory. I have been in denial for years. Then, Uh-oh! There may be trouble ahead... happened. I shall be posting "Move More: Solutions to problems." shortly.

c) Fat cells: Fat cells are a 2-way street. Fat cells are a bit like balloons that are full of holes. As stuff (e.g. NEFAs & glucose) goes in, the balloon expands to accommodate it. As more stuff goes in and the balloon gets bigger, the internal pressure increases and the holes get bigger, so stuff (e.g. NEFAs & glycerol) comes out faster. At some level of fullness, stuff comes out as fast as it goes in. At that point, the fat cell is effectively IR. So, don't overstuff your fat cells i.e. don't get too fat. If you are already too fat, empty your fat cells by doing lowish-intensity exercise (e.g. Walking, Power Walking, Jogging, "Aerobics", parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba).

3) Hypovitaminosis D.
See Hypovitaminosis D is associated with insulin resistance and ß cell dysfunction.
The effects of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on blood glucose and markers of inflammation in nondiabetic adults.
The role of vitamin D and calcium in type 2 diabetes. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the short-term effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on insulin sensitivity in apparently healthy, middle-aged, centrally obese men.
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and metabolic syndrome among middle-aged and elderly Chinese individuals.
Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

So, either use a UVB sun-lamp as per instructions to receive a sub-erythemal dose (not quite going pink) or get tested by your GP and supplement accordingly.

So there it is. Any other ideas that I've forgotten?

Finally, the obligatory picture. Hannah Spearritt is rather nice. :-p

I nearly forgot: Today, when I arrived at mum's nursing home, I found her reading a book. She hasn't done that for over a year. She even knew that it was Wednesday. Ketogenic diet for the win! Mum now has a dual-fuel brain.

Keep 'em tight.

2011-02-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

Wheel nuts? I'm actually referring to Tight Junctions. As mentioned at the end of Wheat? Oh, dear! , 10% of people who are healthy enough to donate blood have gut walls permeable enough to let gliadin pass through. What about all of the people who aren't healthy enough?

Tight junctions are important as they allow only small molecules to pass through. If you read Food Combining: What's THAT all about? , you'll see that during digestion, proteins are broken down into amino acids. Amino acids are small enough to pass through tight junctions. Chains of amino acids larger than about 3 amino acids long are too big to pass through.

Carbohydrates are broken down into monosaccharides, which are small enough to pass through. Disaccharides are too large (except for Trehalose, which Jay Bryant told me about as a treatment for Alzheimer's Disease).

Fats are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol is small enough to pass through. Fatty acids and other fatty molecules such as Vitamin D, Co-enzyme Q10, Vitamin K2, curcumin, berberine etc are transported across.

The consequences of having loose junctions are not good. Stuff that's not supposed to enter the circulation gets in and stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies. That in itself is not necessarily a problem, unless the stuff that the body has produced antibodies against happens to resemble parts of your own body.

Autoimmune diseases such as Coeliac Disease (gut), Dermatitis Herpetiformis (skin), Sjögrens Syndrome (mucous membranes), Cerebellar Ataxia (Purkinje cells in the brain), Multiple Sclerosis (myelin sheaths of nerves), Type 1 Diabetes (pancreatic beta cells), Rheumatoid Arthritis (joints) etc can be caused by the body mistakenly destroying bits of itself.

The other day, I found Immune response to dietary proteins, gliadin and cerebellar peptides in children with autism.

So, how do we keep 'em tight? See The Leaky Gut and Vitamin D and the Colon.
Update: See also Dietary Fat Can Modulate Intestinal Tight Junction Integrity.

In other news....

I had a phone call from mum's GP this morning. Having read my evidence, he's agreed to test mum's serum B12, 25(OH)D and Calcium and give her supplements accordingly. He's also happy with me giving mum a Ketogenic diet and will also advise the nursing home to exercise mum as often as she is able. Result!

I put four cubes of liver paté out for Sooty & Sweep (I don't know which one is which as they're identical) and a Magpie swiped two of them. We also have seagulls. I put the other two cubes out of sight in a box.

So far, so good!

P.S. What fuel can be extracted from decomposing seagulls?
.
.
.
Wait for it...
.
.
.
Petrel! (From Petrol Direct, a joke site in case anyone's wondering).

It's written in the book.

2011-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog post is a line from "Behind the Lines", the first track from "Duke" by Genesis.

Today, at Acacia Lodge, there was a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection taking place. It just so happened that the CQC lady who was on the 2nd floor (where mum is) was the same lady that I complained to about mum's last nursing home. She remembered me (we nerds are very memorable!). We had a long chat.

As a result of our long chat:-
1) I shall chill a bit!
2) There will be feedback books in every resident's bedroom. Anyone can write in them. What is written can be good or bad. I won't have to make any more verbal complaints to the manager (a great relief for both of us!).

In other news...

I've been adopted by a pair of black cats. Is that doubly-lucky, or what? Pets are a great de-stressor. Did you know that in Romania, black cats are considered to be unlucky? Jay (of Jay's Kitchen in Henley-on-Thames) told me.

Here they are drinking some Gold Top milk from the top of the bottle (i.e. cream).

I won't let them into the house, though.

See also Dog's Diary vs. Cat's Diary

Both Sides Now: Nerds!

2011-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

Firstly, here's the song "Both Sides Now" written by Joni Mitchell and sung by Judy Collins in 1967.

"I've looked at x from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it's x's illusions I recall. I really don't know x at all."

Basically, anything can be looked at in a positive or negative way. Which brings me to the subject of nerds. Please note: The following may be a little tongue-in-cheek.

I'm a nerd. Did you notice?

Nerds: The good
1) We're single-minded & very focused. If you want something to work, get a nerd to do it. Just about every gizmo on this planet was invented, designed or developed by nerds.

2) We don't crave a partner's attention. We're not really people-people. Gizmos, on the other hand.....

3) Errrm.....

Nerds: The not-so-good
1) We're single-minded & very focused. If you want more than one thing done at a time, don't get a nerd to do it. A nerd trying to multitask can result in unintentional hilarity. Don't talk to us when we're concentrating on something.

2) We can be socially inept. Body language=Double-Dutch. If I button-hole you in a fascinating (to me) conversation, I won't notice any of your subtle signs that you want to escape. The best way to interrupt a nerd is to hold up your index finger and say "Interrupt Request". If you're lucky, the nerd will say "Interrupt Request Acknowledged" and allow you to get a word in. This of course doesn't work for telephone conversations. Shouting "Stop talking while I'm interrupting you!" very loudly is the only option. We also "teach granny how to suck eggs" by stating the bleedin' obvious - just in case you didn't get it the first time.

3) We can be a bit obsessive. From Duty Calls:-

Finally, if you think that I'm really nerdy, see "The big bang theory" on YouTube. :-D

Positive Feedback: How a tiny push can make all the difference.

2011-01-29T05:20:00.000-08:00

As an ex-Electronic Engineer, I'm very familiar with the effects of Positive Feedback in electronic circuits. The Schmitt trigger is a classic example of a slowly-changing input resulting in a suddenly-changing output.

While I was chatting to another visitor in mum's nursing home yesterday, I had a "Eureka!" moment. I was talking to her about my sudden mood changes when the bleedin' obvious suddenly occurred to me.

When my mood starts to fall, I start doing less. This lowers my mood further. This forms a vicious circle and my mood suddenly falls to a low value and stays there, with me lying in bed/on the sofa feeling like crap and not blogging.

When my mood starts to rise, I start doing more. This raises my mood further. This forms a virtuous circle and my mood suddenly rises to a high value and stays there, with me walking, scrumping, photographing, Zumba-ing and blogging all about it.

So, do something that you think you can't do. You'll feel better for it!

F.A.O. anyone who links to my blog: The title has changed. It's now:-

Nige's Diet & Nutrition Blog
Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Information + Random stuff.

Please update your links. Thanks.

It's Party time again!

2011-01-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

The title is named after George Van Dusen's jolly little number.

I got an invitation to a party at mum's care home today.

Jenny Wood, mayor of Henley visited again.

Mum's hair was a little dishevelled due to her putting a cloth napkin on her head earlier, when there was a cold draught coming through a nearby window.

I was suited and booted with a dicky bow and got too hot. In retrospect, doing Zumba the night before wasn't a good idea!

During the high tea, I fed mum on strawberries & cream. She stayed wide awake and alert throughout the do. The lady to my left was overweight & type 2 diabetic but was fed sandwiches & cakes(!) Suffice it to say that she went into a hyperinsulinaemic sleep and was almost completely uncommunicative when her nephew & niece arrived.

I was bit naughty food-wise and I also had a glass of Champagne which went straight to my head, making me quite merry. I went for a walk to the local Car Service Workshop to clear my head and pay the bill for the repair of mum's car (it needed a new distributor and timing belt as the distributor was knackered and the old timing belt was nearly 13 years old).

For "supper", I gave mum a chopped banana with cream. She was not only wide awake, but talking and making some sense! I started to flag a bit and a lady told me that I looked tired and should go home, so I did. I kept myself alert during the 45 minute drive home by blasting myself with freezing air and playing "Duke" by Genesis at high volume with the window down!

Move More: You are NOT going to believe this!

2011-01-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

At 7:30pm tonight, I walked to the place below. It's in the same building as the Co-op.

I did a 45 minute Zumba session. I was the only man in the room! My pulse rate went over 100% MHR but I seem to have survived.

Before 11th December 2010 and Uh-oh! There may be trouble ahead..., if someone had suggested to me that I try Zumba, I would have told them to not be so daft. During the walk home, I phoned my ex-G/F to tell her what I'd just done, as she's very into keep-fit. My, how she laughed!

Here's a Video ad.

Variety is the spice of life.

2011-01-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

In Half a breakfast, I couldn't finish my breakfast and it looked a bit yuk. Today, I microwaved a rasher of middle bacon, 2 sausages and 2 eggs (Full English) with Tesco Market Value Stir Fry vegetables (a colourful mix of vegetables with seasoning, 750g for £1) and a sprinkle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) on top. It looked like this.

I ate the lot!

Here's a Full English with sliced mixed peppers, a sprinkle of Losalt & EVOO on top.

Here's a Full English with sliced mushrooms, a sprinkle of Losalt & EVOO on top.

Here's a Full English with finely-chopped onions, a sprinkle of Losalt & EVOO on top.

Delish!

Chaenomeles japonica - flowering - quince, Japanese - quince (H)

2011-01-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

This morning, while on my constitutional, I saw a bush in someone's front garden with some fruit on it and thought "I'll have one of those!" This is what the bush looked like.

When I got home, I took some photos. I nicked another Crabapple for comparison.

I then cut the fruits open.

Quinces are very sour, but the frosts had sweetened it somewhat so it was edible raw. A checkout lady at the Co-op told me that it was a Japonica Quince later in the day.

Polite Requests.

2011-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

I delivered a large wad (0.25"/6mm thick) of studies with a covering letter to my mum's new GP on Monday 17th Jan 2011. Here's what I wrote in the covering letter:- Personal information deleted.

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I have some requests concerning Mrs *****.

1) Please monitor Mrs *****’s serum B12 & homocysteine. Until Jan 31st 2010, Mrs ***** was receiving 1,000ug/day methyl B12. This was stopped by the management of Lashbrook House after I complained too much. Long-term use of PPIs in old people can adversely affect B12 absorption (evidence attached).

2) Please advise the staff at Acacia Lodge to walk Mrs ***** using the 3-wheeled rollator that I bought for her as often as she is able. Prolonged inactivity results in Insulin Resistance (IR) in skeletal muscle (evidence attached). IR results in hyperinsulinaemia on eating sugars & starches. Hyperinsulinaemia results in drowsiness and stupor (which makes it more difficult for Mrs ***** to do anything).

3) Please advise the staff at Acacia Lodge to reduce Mrs *****’s intake of sugars & starches. A low-carbohydrate/ketogenic diet is beneficial for people with impaired cognitive function (evidence attached). I have recently persuaded Acacia Lodge to give Mrs ***** cooked breakfasts and have supplied Acacia Lodge with Burgen Soya & Linseed bread (12g carbs/slice). This has resulted in improved cognitive function in the mornings.

I don’t want to impair Mrs *****’s quality of life, so she can still have chips or mashed potato (not both in the same meal as happened on Fri 10th Jan, after which I found Mrs ***** asleep in her wheelchair slumped over with her nose squashed against the arm of the chair). She can also have desserts and the occasional chocolate and/or biscuit.

4) Please allow Mrs ***** to have 5,000iu/day Vitamin D3 (provided by me), as UVB cannot penetrate window glass. 5,000iu/day is much greater than the RDA of 600iu/day but it’s a safe amount (evidence attached). That amount of Vitamin D3 has many beneficial effects (rather a lot of evidence attached!) other than bone health (for which 600iu/day is sufficient).

Thank you,

Nigel Kinbrum (son & attorney)
01252 ****** (24-hr Ansafone)
07768 ******"

The GP phoned me on Friday 21st Jan. He's taking my requests seriously and has asked for a week to read all of the evidence that I provided. Here's hoping!

I love onions.

2011-01-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

I also love the ONION. The following YouTube video is safe for work.

New directions.

2011-01-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

When Rosso suggested to me in December 2008 that I start a Diet & Nutrition blog, I said to him "but whatever will I write about?"

Well, 100+ (quality?) posts later, I seem to have found a thing or two! The thing is, talking about just Diet & Nutrition can become a bit boring after a while, hence the "+ Random stuff".

I shall be having more pictures and music videos.

QUIZ: What is the object in the picture below and how old is it?

Here's me last Thursday night at The Woodcutters in Bracknell singing "Mirror Man" by The Human League. It's darker in there than it was in 2009. I've never sung that song before and I messed it up near the end when I thought that it had finished when there was another chorus to go. Just as well it wasn't X-Factor!

Any requests (other than "no more singing!")?

Quiz solution: The object in the picture above is the original timing belt from my mum's 1998 VW Polo 1.0L. Not bad for nearly 13 years old.

My kind of town (Yateley is)

2011-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

Another random post with a musical title. On my walks, I pass several places of interest. Here are some pictures. Permission to publish all pics granted.

1) The White Lion (a foody pub).

2) Yateley War Memorial.

3) Jessie's (part of Yateley Industries for the disabled).

4) Yateley MOT Centre (where I go to get my car serviced/repaired).

5) The Co-op (where I go to get loads of bargains).

6) Yateley Medical Centre (where I go to get myself serviced/repaired).

7) St Peter's Church (taken after dark, so a longish exposure).

8) The Dog and Partridge (a musicy pub, former official headquarters of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party).

9) The Highwayman (a foody pub on the Monteagle estate)

10) Boots (where I go to get my drugs).

11) Chez Nige (where I live).

Half a breakfast

2011-01-19T04:24:00.000-08:00

This morning, I microwaved 2 rashers middle bacon, 2 sausages, 2 eggs & a chopped onion.

I could only eat half of it. Yes, I know that it doesn't look very appetising. I don't really care what my food looks like. It's the aroma, taste & texture that I care about and by golly, that breakfast smelled delicious (I love the smell of microwaved "fried" onions).

If anything, food that looks like crap tends to suppress my appetite, which for me is a good thing.

I shall have the above for lunch.

Treats

2011-01-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

I've found that allowing myself a small treat when I go for a walk makes the walk that much more enjoyable, even if it's freezing cold, pouring with rain and/or blowing gale-force winds.

While walking in Henley-on-Thames during mum's lunch break, I scrumped some Asian pears off a tree growing on the other side of a fence with razor wire on top. Here's one I nicked earlier! :-D

While walking in Yateley today, I scrumped some Crabapples. They were well bletted by the frosts and tasted delicious if a little mushy in texture.

On a later walk today, I bought a Co-op 100g "Truly Irresistable" Christmas pudding. It must have been quite resistable as it had been reduced in price from 44p to 29p.

You may have noticed that a lot of my blog post titles contain song lyrics or song titles. I have a musical bent and I enjoy singing karaoke. I had a great time last Sunday down at The Cherrypickers in Slough as it was Julie (the presenter)'s birthday. We sang "The Time of my Life" and another song. Here's Julie & me in February 2009 at The Woodcutters in Bracknell doing that song. It's a bit dark & noisy in there!

Guess what? Music may be mildly addictive.

Product review: Weightwatchers® Berry Fruits Layered Fromage Frais

2011-01-16T06:24:00.000-08:00

The great thing about "Eat Less, Move More" is that the "Move More" part gets me out of the house and away from the computer at regular intervals. I tend to go for a 10 minute walk to my local Co-op (formerly Somerfield), wander around the store picking up bargains on their sell-by date, chat to the girls on the checkout and then walk home.

Today I picked up the above product for 40p (normally £1.75). It's four 100g pots of fat free vanilla flavour fromage frais with fruits and sugars and sweeteners. The four varieties are Blackberry, Cherry, Forest Fruits and Raspberry. There is 1 WW point per pot.

INGREDIENTS (Blackberry): Fromage Frais, Blackberry (12.5%), Water, Fructose, Fructose-Glucose Syrup, Modified Waxy Maize Starch, Modified Maize Starch, Stabilisers: Pectin, Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum; Flavourings, Acidity Regulators: Citric Acid, Calcium Citrate; Sweeteners: Aspartame, Acesulfame K; Preservative: Potassium Sorbate.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER 100g POT (Blackberry): Energy 64kcal (274kJ), Protein 5.3g, Carbohydrate 10.4g of which Sugars 9.0g, Fat 0.2g of which Saturates 0.1g, Fibre 1.0g, Sodium 0.04g, Salt equivalent 0.1g.

WHAT DID IT TASTE LIKE? The Fromage Frais tasted O.K. The fruit compote beneath contained a fair amount of fruit but was oversweetened, so there was no sharpness and there was also a slight artificial taste.

WAS IT FILLING? Sadly, no. My stomach likes some fat to keep it happy and this product didn't contain a significant amount. I ate all four pots one after the other.

WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? For 40p, definitely. For £1.75, no way José!

Other odd & sods:

Anthony Colpo roasts Robb, and a few other things as well!

Muscletalk's Bodybuilding terms in pictures.

Scientific Expt by Brainiacs(Sky one) exploring whether looking at Breasts for 30 min is like Working Out for 30 min. Note: Brother B's doing it wrong! ;-p

My Blackberry Is Not Working! - The One Ronnie, Preview - BBC One (thank you Paul Jaminet).

New beginnings.

2011-01-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Before I start posting on the above topic, mum turned 81 today! Here's a pic.

I made the card in the middle by getting one with 18 on it and modifying it!

I never thought she'd make it to 81. I recently persuaded the nursing home to give her cooked breakfasts instead of Ready Brek or toast, both of which would send her into a compensatory hyperinsulinaemic stupor. She was relatively with-it today after having bacon, egg etc. Coincidence? I think not! I'm also switching her bread to Burgen Soya & Linseed as it's low in carbohydrate and very low GI. Anyway, on with the post.

I need to give another "Thank You" to Richard Nikoley. His blog rocks! A Little bit of everything including Food Porn, but mostly Roger Waters & The Wall made me really think. It occurred to me that, to ease the pain of seeing my mother go downhill with me rendered powerless to help, I had built a wall and was comfortably numb behind it.

As Robert Sapolsky pointed out in his lecture on Depression, never-ending stress and social isolation are very bad. So I am "getting it sorted". I have resumed social activities and am tackling things that need to be tackled. See also Polite Requests.

More odds and sods.

2010-12-31T09:51:00.000-08:00

2011 is nearly here, so here's a quick post before I go off and start celebrating.

1) Mum: She had a good Christmas at Acacia Lodge. She even got a visit from Jenny Wood, Mayor of Henley!

2) Computers: I've been doing a spot of housekeeping on my lap-top as there were some start-up errors in the System Log.

It turns out that Microsoft had screwed-up. The Driver Protection feature in Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) prevents the operating system from loading drivers that are known to cause stability problems (for example, preventing Windows XP from booting). However, the XP Registry still contained entries for the removed drivers so the operating system couldn't find them, causing errors. Editing the Registry using regedt32.exe to remove the keys that pointed to the missing drivers fixed the problem. There were still start-up errors, though.

It wasn't just Microsoft that had screwed-up. The Registry was full of keys belonging to programs that I had uninstalled. National Instruments LabView left loads of spurious keys. Virgin PCguard left over 1,000 spurious keys relating to virus pattern updates. If I'd known that there was so much crap to clean out, I would have used a free Registry Manager!

Eat Less, Move More: Solutions to problems.

2010-12-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

The fact is, in order to lose weight & be healthy, we need to Eat Less, Move More. The problem is that a lot of people just can't/won't do it. In Determinants of the Variability in Human Body-fat Percentage, I listed a number of reasons why people eat what (and as much as) they do. Here are some solutions to the problems that cause over-eating and under-moving.

1) Parents: If you've been raised to be a plate-clearer, use a small plate which makes a small amount of food look like more.

2) Genetics: Eat foods that satisfy your appetite for as long as possible. You have to find out what they are by experimentation as everyone is different.

3) Peer pressure from parents, siblings, friends, business partners & significant others: Thank them but politely decline. If they persist, reduce the level of politeness until they get the message.

4) Religion/tradition: Start a new tradition of not stuffing yourself silly at religious festivals. Then spread the word.

5) Culture: Try new foods. They won't kill you and they may actually taste rather good. Learn to cook. Herbs & spices or a splash of Worcestershire/Sweet Chilli Sauce can make bland foods (e.g. rice) taste nicer.

6) Time: Be prepared. Pack a lunch-box with sufficient provisions to get you through the working day/night. Microwave cooking/heating saves a lot of time. It only destroys nutrients if you add a lot of water to the food before cooking (which is not necessary) and then throw the water away after cooking, or overcook foods. All cooking methods that raise the temperature of food to >70°C denature proteins. Denaturing proteins only changes their 3-D structure, which makes them easier to digest.

7) Habit: Habits can be changed.

8) Media: When an advert for something moreish is broadcast, flip channels for 30 seconds or if that's not possible, look away and hum a tune to mask the sound. Make sure that there's no food in sight while watching TV to prevent mindless nibbling. Keep a bottle of low-calorie drink nearby to sip on regularly. EDIT: I now watch TV on my computer with Ad-blocking, which eliminates all TV adverts.

9) Physiological & psychological reasons: Maintain a stable blood glucose level by not eating foods that are made mostly out of grain dust and/or sugar and/or other refined carbohydrates. If you're very active and need to eat a lot of carbohydrate, choose grains that still look like grains (e.g. oats, rice & quinoa etc), fruits, shoots, roots & tubers. Either get sufficient sun exposure or supplement with >2,000iu/day Vitamin D3 to reduce the risk of low mood due to Seasonal Affective Disorder. The long-chain omega-3 fats in oily fish help to raise mood. Magnesium reduces anxiety (also muscle cramps).

10) Allergies & intolerances: Avoid foods that are very moreish.

11) Geography: Eat locally-grown foods from Farmers' Markets, where possible.

12) Season: Eat foods that are in season, where possible.

13) Boredom: Keep busy. Do something!

14) Exercise: This has always been a problem for me. Exercise always gave me a huge appetite resulting in me eating more calories than I burned. Solution: If I eat a small meal just before going for a walk, that stops me from getting the munchies. If I wrap up nice & warm, that stops me from getting the munchies due to feeling cold.

15) Beliefs: I'm not going to try to change your beliefs.

16) Senses: Avoid supermarket aisles that contain junk foods. What your eye can't see and your nose can't smell, your heart won't grieve over.

17) Hunger: Don't let yourself become really hungry as that encourages over-eating when you do finally eat. Don't go food shopping when you're hungry, as that encourages the buying of junk foods.

18) Comfort: Don't buy larger clothes or loosen your belt. If your clothes are getting tighter, let that suppress your appetite. If your clothes are getting looser, buy smaller clothes & tighten your belt.

19) Shame/Self-loathing: If it suppresses your appetite, make the most of it.

20) Current fatness: N/A.

21) Willpower: Hopefully, the above solutions will help you to resist temptation.

I hope that you all had a good Christmas/whatever.

Continued on Move More: Solutions to problems.

Odds and sods.

2010-12-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas is nearly here, so here's a quick post before I go off and do Christmassy things.

1) The weather: We Brits love to moan about the weather. As we don't get much snow here for most of the year, when we do there's chaos on the roads and railways. Here's what it was like last Monday morning, shortly before I set off to visit mum.

2) NoScript: As I want my ancient lap-top to browse as quickly as possible, stopping unnecessary scripts from running is a good idea, so I added the NoScript add-on. Every new site that I visit has to have scripts marked as either approved for that site, or untrusted for that site. Approved scripts can run. Untrusted ones can't. I like it and it's definitely speeded-up surfing.

3) Vacuum Places Improved: Something that slows down auto-completion of web addresses and Firefox start-up is fragmentation of the Places database, so I added the Vacuum Places Improved add-on. This defragments the Places database and can be run by either clicking on an icon or set to auto-run.

4) Flagfox: The Flagfox add-on displays a country flag depicting the location of the current website's server and provides a multitude of tools such as site safety checks, whois, translation, similar sites, validation, URL shortening, and more...

5) Adblock Plus: I've been using the AdBlock Plus add-on together with its companion Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus for quite a while and I'm still impressed with it.

Nutritional dogma.

2010-12-18T02:29:00.000-08:00

Gary Taubes now has a blog. His first two posts have resulted in a lot of opinions being expressed, mine included.

As Henry Larson said in the film "Home for the Holidays (1995)":- "Well, opinions are like assholes, honey. Everybody's got one and everybody thinks everybody else's stinks."

I don't know why, but people adopt nutritional beliefs with a religious fervour. See Low Carb Talibans and read the comments. They choose their TOP EXPERTS (to quote Razwell) and believe everything that they write & say, dismissing any contrary views. What people don't appreciate is that even "experts" get things wrong and have cognitive biases that affect their opinions. See also Elvis lives!

I try to support my opinions using peer-reviewed studies from PubMed. As there are over 20,000,000 studies on that site, the average Joe & Josephine may have difficulty in finding what they're looking for. Here's a tip. Limit the results to studies in English on humans that have abstracts or free full text.

E.G. To find all studies by Leibel RL that meet the above criteria, copy & paste the following line into the search box:-

Leibel RL[Author] AND ("loattrfree full text"[sb] OR hasabstract[text]) AND "humans"[MeSH Terms] AND English[lang]

Other authors worth searching for are Frayn KN, Jéquier E, Flatt JP, Hellerstein MK, Parks EJ, Krauss RM, Dreon DM.

Does anyone have any other author suggestions?

Another useful resource is NCBI Bookshelf.

Uh-oh! There may be trouble ahead...

2010-12-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

I won't deny that I'm not very active. On days that I don't visit my mum, I spend many hours reclining on a sofa with a lap-top on a small table, surfing the internet. I make sloths look hyperactive!

I thought that this wasn't a problem as I also don't eat very much (as I'm so engrossed rummaging through the vast amount of information out there) and I'm maintaining a relatively stable weight.

Then I read Sedentary Physiology at Obesity Panacea which lead me to Sedentary Physiology Part 1 – Not Just The Lack of Physical Activity , full study HERE.

"Hamburg et al. (2007) examined the effect of 5 days of complete bed rest on metabolic health in 22 adult volunteers. Study participants remained in bed for over 23.5 h per day, rising only for matters of personal hygiene. At the completion of the study, despite no changes in body weight, they experienced significant increases in total cholesterol, plasma triglycerides, glucose, and insulin resistance. The changes in carbohydrate metabolism were particularly pronounced, with participants experiencing a 67% greater insulin response to a glucose load following the 5-day intervention."

The thing is, I've never liked sports & formal exercise. In infant school, exercise involved running around in the playground. That, I could do. In primary school, exercise involved running around in the playground, some PE and some outdoor sports (rounders & cricket, using a tennis ball). That, I could also do, although my short legs made me rubbish at running. In secondary school, in addition to PE, there were sports such as football, rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis, swimming & cross-country running. That, I utterly hated (tennis was just about bearable) and so to avoid doing them, I developed an art for forging sick notes in my mum's handwriting. This improved my normal handwriting, so some good came of it. So, what to do?

As toilet breaks force me off the sofa, I shall drink more to make me wee more often. I shall also use the upstairs toilet during the day and the downstairs toilet during the night. See also Eat Less, Move More: Solutions to problems.

Estimated macronutrient and fatty acid intakes from an East African Paleolithic diet

2010-12-03T12:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Stephan Guyenet for bringing the study n-6 Fatty acid-specific and mixed polyunsaturate dietary interventions have different effects on CHD risk: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to my attention in his post Diet-Heart Controlled Trials: a New Literature Review. This shows that diets high in omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturates but low in omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturates are heart-unhealthy.

In the West, we are advised to eat lots of "heart-healthy" sunflower oil & spreads. These contain about 70 times more omega-6 than omega-3. Safflower, Grapeseed, Corn & Groundnut Oils also have high omega-6:omega-3 ratios, according to Comparison of Dietary Fats Chart.

I then found the following study also on the British Journal of Nutrition:- Estimated macronutrient and fatty acid intakes from an East African Paleolithic diet.

This shows that traditional hunter-gatherer diets have a short-chain omega-3:omega-6 ratio of 1·12–1·64 and a long-chain omega-3:omega-6 ratio of 0·84–1·92. In other words, there is a moderate balance between omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturates.

The diets are also relatively high in protein (25–29% energy) and fat (30–39% energy) but moderate in carbohydrate (39–40% energy).

I thought that followers of a Paleo-type diet would find this interesting.

EDIT: I've just noticed that O Primitivo has already posted about this study!

Robert Sapolsky lectures.

2010-11-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

Firstly, thanks to Richard Nikoley for posting links to a couple of lectures by the above Stanford Professor. I've watched three of Sapolsky's lectures so far and they've all been very interesting. Here are links to five of them.

The Uniqueness of Humans (37 mins)

Depression (52 mins)

Stress, Neurodegeneration and Individual Differences (1 hour 19 mins)

Toxoplasmosis (37 mins)

The Origin of Religion (9 mins + 10 mins)

I may be gone some time.

Child obesity 'time bomb'

2010-10-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

...is today's headline on Nursing Times. Not only do calorie-dense, nutrient-poor junk-foods make children fatter than they should be, they may also turn them into junk-food junkies.

See The Science of Food Addiction , How Junk Foods Hijack the Brain , I'm a secret lemonade drinker... and Dopamine and Obesity: The Food Addiction?

It's currently illegal to advertise cigarettes & alcohol to and/or sell them to children. Would it help to tackle the child obesity problem by making it illegal to advertise sweets, chocolate, crisps, cakes, biscuits, sugary drinks & take-away foods to and/or sell them to children?

A slight hitch, Part 3.

2010-05-13T03:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything for a while as I've been lacking in inspiration due to feeling a bit "Meh!". As mentioned in A slight hitch, Part 2. I was ordered to withdraw all of mum's supplements pending investigation by a NHS Dietician. The only thing that I was allowed to continue giving her was smoked salmon for her sandwiches as it's food.

After a long delay, I finally got to see the Dietician, but she was about as useful as a chocolate teapot (she didn't know what half the supplements were), so I had to apply to the Court of Protection to become mum's Deputy so that I would have authority to give her supplements. The forms were returned a week or so later as the financial evidence that I had attached to claim fee exemption was too old. Pah! I received a new P60 in the middle of April, so I re-submitted the forms with a copy of that attached. I phoned the Court on 12th May as I hadn't had any written response and was told that they had received my forms on 21st April and that it could take up to 21 weeks to reach a verdict.

In the meantime, I have to watch mum's mental faculties deteriorate knowing that there are supplements that have helped her brain in the past but I'm not allowed to give them to her. That kinda sucks. Now that there is some sun, I am taking mum onto the patio of the new nursing home around midday to get some UVB, but as she feels the cold more than she used to, only her hands & face are exposed at the moment.

Mum moved to the new nursing home on March 15th and her physical condition has improved thanks to the staff at the new place exercising her. She has regained the use of her left hand (which went floppy at the wrist in November '09 for no apparent reason) and has been walking with the aid of a tri-walker & assisted by a carer since April 16th. The food is better quality and she also gets regular aromatherapy hand massages which she enjoys. That's something to be grateful for.

Update: Due to a stress-related health problem in June, I had to cancel my application to become mum's Deputy. I did what I could. I can't do any more. Que sera, sera.

Whatever happened to...Torcetrapib?

2010-04-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

Peter of Hyperlipid mentioned this stuff back in July 2007 but it didn't get much attention back then, so I am resurrecting it. It's another "Great Idea" that turned out to be absolute cack.

Inhibiting the enzyme that converts A into B results in less of B but more of A. This also applies to something called Cholesterol Ester Transport Protein (CETP) that transports esterified cholesterol (acid + alcohol = ester + water & cholesterol is technically an alcohol) from the tiny HDL discs to the much larger LDL & relatively huge VLDL particles. To see what HDL, LDL, VLDL & chylomicrons look like, see Large LDL and small HDL particles: The best combination.

Inhibiting CETP with Torcetrapib reduces LDL and increases HDL which sounds absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, what has actually happened is that the cholesterol reverse transport pathway has been interfered with. Not surprisingly, this results in increased mortality. To see how cholesterol transport pathways work, see Figure 3 in Effect of Torcetrapib on the Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis. See also Effect of Torcetrapib on Carotid Atherosclerosis in Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

If you want to raise your HDL, eat more saturated & monounsaturated fats, also fish oils and/or take high-dose extended-release niacin. Don't bugger about with CETP.

Black Pepper is pretty Hot Stuff.

2010-04-05T02:31:00.000-07:00

Black Pepper contains a substance called Piperine that gives the hot sensation. It just so happens that Piperine increases the bio-availability of several important substances.

1) Curcumin: This substance has many health benefits, a very important one being the slowing, halting or even reversing of amyloid plaque formation in the brain, as mentioned in Look after your brain. See Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.

2) Beta-carotene: See Piperine, an alkaloid derived from black pepper increases serum response of beta-carotene during 14-days of oral beta-carotene supplementation.

3) Coenzyme Q10: See Piperine derived from black pepper increases the plasma levels of coenzyme q10 following oral supplementation.

Capsaicin, the hot stuff in chilli peppers is also quite useful.

Wheat? Oh, dear!

2010-03-30T03:46:00.000-07:00

Someone on the BBC Healthy eating food board recently asked about gut problems brought on by eating wheat so I decided to have a rummage through some of the science blogs that I read, searching for "wheat". This is what I found. Updating this post will be a never-ending task!

The Heart Scan Blog:
Are you a skinny fat person? , Blood pressure with exercise , Low-fat diets raise triglycerides , American Heart Association stamp of approval , The wheat-free life , Wheat belly , Oat vs. wheat , Sugar for breakfast , Niacin and blood sugar , When niacin doesn't work , Wacky statin effects , Success--Slow but sure , Wheat-free and weight loss , The small LDL epidemic , Wheat and the hunger factor , Niacin vs. low-carb weight loss , Appetite stimulants , The many faces of LDL , Triglyceride traps , No-flush niacin kills , Low-carb eating for diabetes , Wheat-free is not gluten-free , "I gained 30 lbs from one cracker" , Wheat addiction: 140 lbs lost , Wheat withdrawal , "I lost 30 lbs and my triglycerides went . . . up?" , Vitamin D and HDL , Triglycerides divided by five , What's worse than sugar? , Are you wheat-free? , Wheat withdrawal: How common? , Quieting the insulin storm , Nutritional approaches: Large vs. small LDL , Can CRP be reduced? , The Wheat Deficiency Syndrome , Flush-free niacin kills , Flat tummy . . . or, Why your dietitian is fat , Thiazide diuretics: Treatment of choice for high blood pressure? , How to Give Yourself Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: 101 , CIS: Carbohydrate intolerance syndrome , Dr. Michael Eades on the Paleolithic diet , Wheat hell , Can millet make you diabetic? , Wheat Belly Revisited , Cholesterol effects of carbohydrates , Blast small LDL to oblivion , "Hey buddy, wanna buy some exorphins?" , Triglyceride Buster-Update , The statin-free life , Goodbye, fructose , Who lost weight? , Weight loss and vitamin D , Why obese people can't fast , Unexpected effects of a wheat-free diet , Name that food , Why does fish oil reduce triglycerides? , The disastrous results of a low-fat diet , The Paleo approach to meal frequency , Track Your Plaque challenges , Small LDL: Perfect index of carbohydrate intake , This is your brain on wheat , To track small LDL, track blood sugar , If you take niacin, you must exercise , A wheat-free 2010 , De Novo Lipo-what? , Look like Jimmy Stewart , To get low-carb right, you need to check blood sugars , More on blood sugar , Diabetes from fruit , Blood sugar: Fasting vs. postprandial , Is glycemic index irrelevant? , Saturated fat and large LDL , Genetic vs. lifestyle small LDL , "I dream about bread" , Psssst . . . There's sugar in there , Timing of blood sugars , Fat Head, Wheat belly, and the Adventures of Ancel Keys , Normal fasting glucose with high HbA1c , Slash carbs . . . What happens? , LDL glycation , Rerun: To let low-carb right, you must check POSTPRANDIAL blood sugars , What to Eat: The diet is defined by small LDL , Small LDL: Simple vs. complex carbohydrates , Man walks after removing wheat , Glycemic gobbledygook , Blame the gluten? , Emmer, einkorn, and agribusiness , Super-carbohydrate , In search of wheat , Low-carb gynecologist , Ezekiel said what? , In search of wheat: We bake einkorn bread , In search of wheat: Einkorn and blood sugar , Wheat aftermath , In search of wheat: Another einkorn experience , In search of wheat: Emmer , Life without Lipitor , How to have a heart attack in 10 easy steps , To lose weight, prick your finger , Carbohydrate-LDL double whammy , China fiction? , What increases blood sugar more than wheat? , LDL pattern B , This is your brain on wheat II , Men's lingerie is on the second floor , Wheat hip , What's for breakfast? , Extreme carbohydrate intolerance , Homegrown osteoporosis prevention and reversal , Can I stop my Coumadin? , Surviving a widow maker , Let go of my love handles , Human foie gras , Bosom buddies , Noodles without the headaches , Einkorn now in Whole Foods , The Anti-AGEing Diet , New Track Your Plaque record! , Dwarf mutant wheat , Can I see your linea alba? , Why do morphine-blocking drugs make you lose weight? , Why does wheat cause arthritis? , Statin buster? , Wheat one-liners , Put lipstick on a dwarf , Wheat-free pie crust , Do your part to save on healthcare costs , Wheat-free pumpkin bread , The two kinds of small LDL , I lost 37 lbs with a fingerstick , Genetic incompatibility , Is einkorn the answer? , A glycation rock and a hard place , No more cookies , High blood pressure vanquished , Thirteen catheterizations later , The five most powerful heart disease prevention strategies , Heroin, Oxycontin, and a whole wheat bagel , What do Salmonella, E coli, and bread have in common? , Diarrhea, asthma, arthritis--What is your wheat re-exposure syndrome? , The perfect Frankengrain , Diarrhea, runny noses, and rage: Poll results , Why is type 1 diabetes on the rise? , Construct your glucose curve , 90% small LDL: Good news, bad news , Be gluten-free without "gluten-free" , Wheat brain , Don’t wet yourself , Have some more , Bet you can’t fast , and so on...
Do you get the impression that Dr Davis really has it in for wheat?

Dr John Briffa's Blog:
Understanding Food Cravings , Dealing With Childhood Ear Infections , Does Fibre Protect Us From Colon Cancer? , Natural cures for migraine , Natural approaches to asthma , Natural approaches to eczema , Dietary approaches to autism , Why a lot of breakfast fodder are nothing but cereal killers , Why eating a grain-based diet will do nothing for your ‘vitality’ , Natural approaches to arthritis , Avoiding certain foods can really help the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) , Could vinegar actually reduce the tendency of certain foods to cause weight gain? , Practical advice for those wanting to construct healthy lunchboxes for their kids , Older dads at risk of fathering autistic children – and the diet that can help those affected by this condition , Jamie Oliver calls parents “tossers” for putting sh*t in their kids’ lunchboxes. Do healthy packed lunch options exist? , Are wholegrain breakfast cereals really good for the heart? , Men with migraine found to be at increased risk of heart attack , What really causes irritable bowel syndrome? , Health professionals ignore their patients at their, and their patients’, peril , Probiotics found to be helpful for sufferers of IBS , Peppermint oil comes out top in review of treatments for IBS , BMJ letter reminds doctors of limitations of science and the importance of clinical experience , Just because someone doesn’t have coeliac disease, doesn’t mean they don’t have a problem with gluten , Can wheat cause diabetes? , What is food combining good for? , Rye bread helps relieve constipation, and other tips for bowel regularity , Gluten and milk linked with constipation in kids , My advice for those looking to have an energised and productive afternoon , ‘Food for Thought’ – nutritional advice for those preparing for and taking exams , Why we can’t rely on epidemiological evidence , Think bran is good for the bowels? Think again , Antiobiotic found to relieve IBS, and what might work better , New study shows that it’s possible to react to gluten but not have coeliac disease
Ditto for Dr Briffa.

PāNu Weblog:
6s and 3s and the logic of grain avoidance , The Argument Against Cereal Grains , 1) Eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates like white flour. , Where are all the healthy whole grains? , Avoid Poison or Neutralize It? , The argument against cereal grains II , 12 Steps update Mar 2010 , The China Study - Polish a turd and find a diamond? , , , , , , , , ,
Ditto for Dr Harris.

Evolutionary Medicine Forum:
Paleolithic like diet - Low Carbohydrate , Foods High in Oxalate , The Dangers of Wheat , Schizophrenia and Gluten , The Leaky Gut , Alcohol & Particle Size , Bone Disease and Lipids , Lactase Persistence in Europe , Statins , Obesity (part II): Insulin Resistance , The Sun, The Fruit Trees, and Ancient Man , Summer vs Winter mode , Health - A Philosophical Standpoint , Celiac Disease and Osteoporosis , Insulin: Chronic Kidney Disease and Atherosclerosis , Origins of Food , Compulsive Overeating by Billy E , Hunger: Pica and Trace Mineral Deficiencies , Colonic Flora and Diabetes , Guest Blogger: Ken S , Emily Deans, MD - guest post , The Problem with Modern Medicine
Ditto for Dr Tourgeman.

Whole Health Source:
Ischemic Heart Attacks: Disease of Civilization , Paleolithic Diet Clinical Trials Part IV , Dr. Rosedale Replies , The Body Fat Setpoint, Part IV: Changing the Setpoint , Interesting Articles in the AJCN , Grains as Food: an Update , Traditional Preparation Methods Improve Grains' Nutritive Value , Fermented Grain Recipes from Around the World , China Study Problems of Interpretation , Real Food XI: Sourdough Buckwheat Crepes , Can a Statin Neutralize the Cardiovascular Risk of Unhealthy Dietary Choices? , Dr. Mellanby's Tooth Decay Reversal Diet , Paleolithic Diet Clinical Trials, Part V , Eating Wheat Gluten Causes Symptoms in Some People Who Don't Have Celiac Disease , Blinded Wheat Challenge , Assorted Thoughts About the 2010 Dietary Guidelines , My Gluten-Free January , Gluten-Free January Survey Data, Part II: Health Effects of a Gluten-Free Diet

Hyperlipid:
Food Pyramids, food and pyramids , Heroin and IBS , Niacin and adrenochrome , How toxic is wheat? , Gluten ataxia , Essential fatty acids are essential , Wheat and lactose , Casein vs gluten , Wheat and lactose and Cordain , Fiber, inulin and cancer , Gluten and rheumatoid arthritis , Weight loss; when it's hard , Casein, gluten and gastric pH , Gluten: Does coeliac disease require an infection? , Wheat Germ Agglutinin; how little is enough? , Wheat and lactase

Cooling Inflammation:
Cure Acne, Back Pain, Tendonitis, Depression , Anti-inflammatory, Gluten-Free Diet for Celiac , Arthritis, Autoimmunity and Arginine Deimidation

Raw Food SOS:
The China Study, Wheat, and Heart Disease; Oh My!

The above makes my criticisms of over-refined wheat products seem rather tame. See also The problem with "Whole Grain" cereals etc , I am NOT the anti-carb! and Anthony Colpo's The Whole Grain Scam.

From Ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, and anti-gliadin antibody. Guilt by association?

"However, anti-gliadin antibodies lack disease specificity being found in 10% of healthy blood donors."

So, 10% of the population that are healthy enough to donate blood have gut walls permeable enough to let gliadin pass through. Food for thought! If gliadin can pass through, maybe other hard-to-digest protein fragments can, too e.g. casein.

Vitamin D3: Studies from 2005 to present.

2010-03-25T02:56:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to...Lapaquistat?

2010-03-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

By now, you've probably noticed that I'm a bit anti-statin. The "problem" with statins is that they reduce cholesterol synthesis in the liver by reducing the conversion of HydroxyMethylGlutarate (HMG) Co-enzyme A (CoA) into Mevalonate by inhibiting the enzyme HMG CoA reductase.

Reducing Mevalonate reduces lots of other things e.g. Coenzyme Q10 synthesis, terpenoid synthesis, protein prenylation, cell membrane maintenance, hormones, protein anchoring, N-glycosylation and steroid biosynthesis which leads to cholesterol synthesis. Paradoxically, although cholesterol synthesis is reduced, Vitamin D level is increased. See also Atorvastatin increases 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentrations in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Some of the above changes are undesirable in terms of all-cause mortality, so what would be ideal is a drug that just reduces serum cholesterol without doing anything else. Enter....Squalestatin a.k.a. Zaragozic Acid. This reduces the conversion of Farnesyl Pyrophosphate into Squalene by inhibiting the enzyme Squalene synthase. This has no effect on Mevalonate, or any of the substances listed in the above paragraph. Perfect!

A Squalene synthase inhibitor called Lapaquistat (a.k.a. TAK-475) was developed and tested by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in 2008. So, why is this wonder drug not on the market today? According to Limited press release - Discontinuation of Development of TAK-475, A Compound for Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia:- " the profile of the compound is not superior to existing marketed drugs from both efficacy and safety viewpoints".

So, just reducing serum cholesterol without changing anything else is not superior to reducing serum cholesterol and changing loads of other things. Maybe statins reduce CHD mortality a bit because they change loads of other things, not because they reduce serum cholesterol. See Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein.

Statins are anti-inflammatory. So is Vitamin D3. I'd take Vitamin D3 instead of statins any day.

Determinants of the Variability in Human Body-fat Percentage.

2010-03-20T02:15:00.000-07:00

There are extremely skinny people, very skinny people, skinny people, average people, fat people, very fat people and extremely fat people. However, all healthy newborns have roughly the same body-fat percentage.

As we grow, we gain weight. That's normal. However, the percentage of our bodies that's body-fat can and does change. I'm not going to start another pointless "is a calorie a calorie?" debate as whether it is (as I believe) or it isn't (as others believe), isn't particularly relevant.

What makes some people gain more body-fat mass & less muscle mass than others?

Where nutrients end up depends on the relative insulin sensitivity of the target tissues.
Fat cells are usually always sensitive to insulin unless they are so full of fat that they cannot accommodate any more, in which case either pre-fat cells are turned into new empty fat cells, or if there are no pre-fat cells left the result is type 2 diabetes.
Muscle cells vary in their sensitivity to insulin. Inactivity lowers sensitivity and intense exercise increases it. Body-builders do a lot of intense exercise so as to maximise muscle cell sensitivity in order to get the maximum amount of nutrients into muscles rather than body-fat.
Liver cells vary in their sensitivity to insulin depending on how full of glycogen they are and how much visceral fat (fat around the internal organs) there is.

What makes our weight go up?

1) Eating
2) Drinking
3) Putting on clothes
4) Oxygen breathed in

What makes our weight go down?

1) Defaecating
2) Urinating
3) Taking off clothes
4) Carbon dioxide & water vapour breathed out
5) Energy losses due to movement & heat losses due to conduction, convection, radiation & evaporation
6) Miscellaneous (loss of various bodily fluids, loss of skin cells/hairs/nails, ketones in urine/sweat/breath)

Some factors are controllable/reversible and some aren't. Over a period of 24 hours, our weight goes up and down by a few pounds due to the above factors. Whether our average weight over a 24 hour period changes over the course of days, weeks, months & years depends on the balance between the things that make it go up and the things that make it go down.

Why do we eat & drink what (and as much as) we do?

1) Parents
When we are young, what & how much we eat is determined by our parents (also schools). They dictate the foods and the portion sizes. Poor parents (also schools) often buy the cheapest possible foods. Poor parents encourage "plate-clearing" as they cannot afford waste.

2) Genetics
Some of our ancestors lived in hot countries and some lived in cold countries. Some habitually ate meats and some habitually ate shoots or roots or fruits or grains. This has an effect on our bodies. My ancestors came mostly from Northern Europe which may explain why I achieve better appetite control on a meat-based diet rather than a grain-based diet. The ability to digest lactose (milk sugar) is determined by the habitual milk-drinking in adulthood of our ancestors. Only 4.7% of white English people are lactose-intolerant compared to ~98% of Africans, who would have drunk raw warm milk that had lactase in it.

3) Peer pressure from parents, siblings, friends, business partners & significant others
"Go on! One (more) *insert name of junk food/drink here* won't hurt!"

4) Religion/tradition
It's become commonplace for English people to stuff themselves silly at Christmas, eat lots of chocolate eggs at Easter, pancakes etc.

5) Culture
Certain foods that are very nutritious are either culturally-unacceptable or have fallen out of favour e.g. rabbit/horse/cat/dog-meats & offal (brains, stomachs, lungs, pancreases, hearts, kidneys, bladders, necks, feet).

6) Time
Increasingly busy lives make some people buy pre-prepared meals/snacks which are usually refined carbohydrate-based e.g sandwiches, Subway/Maccy D/BK/KFC. Some workers only have access to vending machine foods & drinks or canteen food which may be of dubious quality. Others blow-out on business lunches.

7) Habit
How many people eat by the clock rather than when they are hungry? School children & many workers have no choice and have to eat at set times.

8) Media
There are lots of cookery programmes with celebrity chefs endorsing some diet or other and TV adverts for all sorts of manufactured foods but not many adverts for meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese etc (whatever happened to "Beefy & Lamby" & "Go to work on an egg"?). There's always some "expert" telling us what to eat & what not to eat. A lot of mindless eating occurs while watching TV.

9) Physiological & psychological reasons
When we're feeling ill, sad or depressed or have low/falling blood glucose level, we may fancy foods which are high in sugar and fat (mmm, chocolate!). People with Eating Disorders starve themselves.

10) Allergies & intolerances
People avoid foods that make them feel ill.

11) Geography
If we live in a country that grows a lot of a certain foodstuff e.g. rice, wheat, beetroot etc, we are encouraged to eat a lot of that particular foodstuff. When we feel hot, our appetites decrease and when we feel cold, our appetites increase. This is why we don't get fat when we put more clothes on to make ourselves feel warmer.

12) Season
This isn't so relevant, now that most foods are transported around the world and sold in supermarkets, but locally-grown seasonal foods bought from farmers' markets are tasty & nutritious.

13) Boredom
The saying "the Devil makes work for idle hands" applies to our brains & stomachs as well.

14) Exercise
Some people's appetites decrease when they exercise and some increase. I fall into the latter category! The intensity of exercise can make a big difference to subsequent appetite. Low-intensity cardio is more likely to increase appetite (via AMPk) than high-intensity exercise. An exception to this is over-training at high-intensity which drains muscle glycogen to the point where muscles suck in a load of glucose from the blood causing low blood glucose. Apart from faints, shakes & sweats, this hugely increases appetite as the brain is crying out for something to raise blood glucose a.s.a.p.

15) Beliefs
Lacto-ovo-vegetarians, pescatarians, vegetarians, vegans etc will not eat certain foods for ethical/moral reasons.

16) Senses
The sight & smell of food & the sound of food cooking can increase our appetites. TV adverts and supermarkets use this to increase sales.

17) Hunger
This is rather obvious, but the emptier the stomach, the higher its ghrelin secretion which increases our appetites.

18) Comfort
If clothing becomes uncomfortably tight around the waist, that can suppress our appetites.

19) Shame/Self-loathing
If we catch sight of our bodies in a mirror and don't like what we see, that can suppress our appetites. People who are ill with an Eating Disorder see themselves as fat or obese when in fact they are skinny or emaciated.

20) Current fatness
As we get fatter, fat cells secrete more leptin, which suppresses our appetites. Very fat people's fat cells secrete so much leptin that the brain can become insensitive to it, resulting in poor appetite suppression.

21) Willpower
Some people find it harder than others to resist the enticements listed above to eat/drink more calorie-dense, nutrient-poor junk.

If I've left anything off this list, feel free to comment. Our bodies are pretty complicated and contain many regulatory feedback loops, so we humans have managed to survive famines & disasters over the aeons by our ability to store an excess of proteins, carbohydrates & fats as muscle & body-fat (also food in food-stores) and are now at the top of the food chain (except in lion, tiger, wolf, hyena, bear & shark territory!). Our biggest threat today is excessively-cheap & over-promoted manufactured foods which are calorie-dense & moreish and lifestyles that encourage us to over-eat, under-move and under-sun our skins. When people get too fat, their bodies become damaged, which encourages even more over-eating and under-moving thus creating a vicious circle.

I.M.O, manufactured foods should be taxed and the revenue used to subsidise natural foods. One problem with such a plan is that the Government doesn't always use revenue for the purpose intended e.g. Road Tax. Another problem is in the definition of manufactured foods e.g. does churning milk to make butter count as manufacturing? Ditto pressing olives to make EVOO? I personally think not, but it's a grey area. I also think that there should be a ban on the advertising of manufactured foods, as adverts encourage us to want foods we don't need. Advertising is more persuasive than you think.

See also Eat Less, Move More: Solutions to problems.

How many working brain cells do researchers have? Part 2.

2010-03-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Having discovered The Cochrane Library, I thought I'd see what was in it regarding Vitamin D & Cancer. I found the following Protocol Vitamin D supplementation for prevention of cancer in adults.

"Why it is important to do this review
The available evidence on vitamin D and cancer incidence is intriguing but inconclusive. Results of recently completed randomised clinical trials testing the influence of vitamin D supplementation for cancer prevention are inconsistent. Lappe et al found that vitamin D supplementation is associated with significantly decreased cancer incidence (Lappe 2007). On the contrary, another large randomised clinical trial found no effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on cancer incidence (Wactawski-Wende 2006). A recent meta-analysis by Autier and Gandini of 18 randomised clinical trials found significantly lower mortality in vitamin D supplemented participants (Autier 2007). We have been unable to identify any systematic reviews of randomised trials on vitamin D supplementation for cancer prevention."

I took a closer look at the Wactawski-Wende trial. In this trial, a daily Vitamin D dose of 400IU was used. That's less than one tenth of an effective dose (5,000IU/day). What happens when you take less than one tenth of an effective dose of a medication? Nothing. Which is exactly what they found. Like, Duh!

The randomised trials in the Autier meta-analysis used daily Vitamin D doses of 300 to 2000IU. The trial size–adjusted mean daily vitamin D dose was 528IU. Once again, mostly pathetically inadequate doses were used.

The Lappe trial used a daily Vitamin D dose of 1,100IU (+ Calcium). It's a bit low, but there was a beneficial effect. When analysis was confined to cancers diagnosed after the first 12 months (to allow time for serum 25(OH)D levels to stabilise and ignore results from subjects who started the trial with undiagnosed cancers), there was a 77% reduction in cancer diagnoses (RR for the Ca + D group fell to 0.232 (CI: 0.09, 0.60; P < 0.005)).

No cancer trials have yet been done using 5,000IU/day of Vitamin D3.

So, thanks to eejit researchers testing ineffective doses, there is no conclusive evidence supporting Vitamin D3. People continue to die from cancer unnecessarily. What is Cancer Research doing with all of the money that they get?

Dementia: A review of the evidence.

2010-03-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

To make my discussions with Health Professionals a.k.a. "experts" more effective, I need to know what they know. To help me with this task, I have been rummaging through The Cochrane Library. The results for Dementia NOT "Down Syndrome" NOT Vascular NOT Aids NOT carer and Reviews only produced 44 results. Some weren't relevant. The following are relevant and I have added the plain language summary:-

Acetyl-l-carnitine for dementia. No evidence of benefit of Acetyl-l-carnitine for dementia.
Alpha lipoic acid for dementia. No evidence of efficacy of alpha lipoic acid for dementia.
Antidepressants for treating depression in dementia. Insufficient evidence for the efficacy and safety of antidepressants for depression in dementia.
Aroma therapy for dementia. The one small trial published is insufficient evidence for the efficacy of aroma therapy for dementia.
Cannabinoids for the treatment of dementia. No evidence that cannabinoids are effective in the improvement of disturbed behaviour in dementia or in the treatment of other symptoms of dementia.
Cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia with Lewy bodies. No convincing evidence from one trial of the efficacy of cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia with Lewy bodies.
Cholinesterase inhibitors for Parkinson's disease dementia. Rivastigmine appears to moderately improve cognition and to a lesser extent activities of daily living in patients with PDD.
Donepezil for dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Donepezil is beneficial for people with mild, moderate and severe dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.
Ginkgo biloba for cognitive impairment and dementia. There is no convincing evidence that Ginkgo biloba is efficacious for dementia and cognitive impairment.
Haloperidol for agitation in dementia. No evidence has been found of any significant general improvement in manifestations of agitation, other than aggression, among demented patients treated with haloperidol, compared with controls.
Homeopathy for dementia. No evidence that homeopathy is effective in treating dementia.
Hormone replacement therapy to maintain cognitive function in women with dementia. There is no evidence of a positive effect that oestrogen replacement therapy can maintain cognitive function for a longer period of time (> five months) in women with Alzheimer's disease.
Hydergine for dementia. Uncertainty about the efficacy of hydergine in dementia.
Lecithin for dementia and cognitive impairment. Doubtful effect of lecithin as a treatment for dementia.
Light therapy for managing cognitive, sleep, functional, behavioural, or psychiatric disturbances in dementia. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether light therapy is effective in the management of cognitive, sleep, functional, behavioural or psychiatric disturbances in dementia.
Massage and touch for dementia. Insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about the possibility that massage and touch interventions are effective for dementia or associated problems.
Memantine for dementia. Some evidence of efficacy of memantine for dementia.
Music therapy for people with dementia. There is no substantial evidence to support nor discourage the use of music therapy in the care of older people with dementia.
Nicergoline for dementia and other age associated forms of cognitive impairment. Nicergoline may improve cognition and behavioural function of people with mild to moderate dementia.
Omega 3 fatty acid for the prevention of dementia. There is no evidence that dietary or supplemental omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) reduces the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia in healthy elderly persons without pre-existing dementia. This review yielded no clinical trials that could confirm or refute the utility of omega 3 PUFA in preventing cognitive impairment or dementia. This is an important area that is in pressing need of further research.
Physical activity programs for persons with dementia. There is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of physical activity programs in managing or improving cognition, function, behaviour, depression, and mortality in people with dementia.
Physostigmine for dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Limited evidence of effectiveness of physostigmine for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Piracetam for dementia or cognitive impairment. Evidence for the efficacy of piracetam for dementia or cognitive impairment is inadequate for clinical use but sufficient to justify further research.
Procaine treatments for cognition and dementia. In analysing the effect of procaine and its preparations, there was no evidence for benefit in the prevention or treatment of dementia or cognitive impairment.
Propentofylline for dementia. Limited evidence that propentofylline benefits cognition, global function and activities of daily living in people with Alzheimer's disease and/or vascular dementia.
Reminiscence therapy for dementia. Inconclusive evidence of the efficacy of reminiscence therapy for dementia.
Snoezelen for dementia. No evidence of the efficacy of snoezelen or multi-sensory stimulation programmes for people with dementia.
Statins for the prevention of dementia. There (is) good evidence that statins given in late life to individuals at risk of vascular disease have no effect in preventing dementia.
Thioridazine for dementia. No evidence to support the use of thioridazine for dementia.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for dementia. Insufficient data to determine the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for dementia.
Trazodone for agitation in dementia. Insufficient evidence from randomized, placebo-controlled studies to support a recommendation that trazodone should be prescribed, or not prescribed, for BPSD.
Validation therapy for dementia. No new evidence of the efficacy of validation therapy for people with dementia or cognitive impairment has been identified.
Valproate preparations for agitation in dementia. No evidence of efficacy of valproate preparations for treatment of agitation in people with dementia.
Vinpocetine for cognitive impairment and dementia. Insufficient evidence of benefits of vinpocetine for people with dementia.

So there you have it. Virtually everything that's been thoroughly tested is ineffective for the treatment of dementia.
There are a whole load of things that haven't been properly tested yet e.g. Omega-3, Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, Curcumin, Berberine, Trans-dermal Progesterone, Sub-lingual B12, S-Adeno-Methionine and The Ketogenic Diet. What is The Alzheimer's Society doing with all of the money that they get?

Finally, I accept that mum is on her last legs and won't be around for much longer, so here's a song. I normally hate raps, but the Pinky & Perky backing vocals are kinda quirky and the lyrics are poignant. So here's Stay with Me by DJ Ironik. Listen to the words!

"Experts"...again!

2010-03-12T02:20:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in A slight hitch, Part 2., I attended a "robust" meeting with social services, representatives of the nursing home, mum's Community Psychiatric Nurse and mum's Memory Clinic consultant. Although the meeting didn't go quite as I'd hoped, the outcome was good as the standard of care at the nursing home has improved. She's moving to a better nursing home on Monday 15th March anyway as I'd had enough of the shenanigans with the management that runs the current nursing home.

After the meeting, I had a long chat with mum's Memory Clinic consultant. He explained that I couldn't give mum supplements based on weak evidence e.g. in-vitro studies, animal studies or epidemiological/observational human studies showing associations between "A" & "B". There had to be a sufficient number of large Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs). Fair enough.

I recently e-mailed the consultant including a couple of links to RCTs showing the positive effect of Vitamin D3 on mood. He e-mailed back saying that the evidence was still weak and he linked me to The Cochrane Collaboration web-site and also to the book Evidence Based Medicine - How to Practice and Teach EBM. I bought the book and took a look at the web-site.

Due to a bug on Amazon, looking inside the above book showed me a completely different book which contained a very interesting piece of information.

The Flecainide Story
Pre-Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) are a fancy name for cardiac arrhythmias. PVCs often result in Ventricular Fibrillation (VF) & death during heart attacks. A crossover study done in the US in the 1980s showed that Flecainide drastically reduced PVCs compared to placebo. Flecainide was approved by the US Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) and prescribed to hundreds of thousands of American heart attack patients (though it never caught on in Europe or Australia).

Unfortunately a later study, the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST) showed that, over an 18 month period, about 12% of patients taking Flecainide died compared to about 5% of patients taking placebo. Oh, whoops! It took quite a while for the bad news to be accepted (as nobody likes bad news especially when it adversely affects drug sales & profits) and for Flecainide to be taken off the market. In the meantime, tens of thousands of Americans died unnecessarily. This is what happens when "experts" focus on one outcome only and ignore the rather more important outcome of all-cause mortality.

Statins reduce cardiac deaths in men under 50 who have had one or more heart attacks. There's a statistically-insignificant reduction in all-cause mortality though as deaths from other causes increase. There's also no statistically-significant all-cause mortality benefit to men over 50 or all women who have had one or more heart attacks, or people who haven't had a heart attack. However, that hasn't stopped statins being prescribed to all and sundry, whether young or old, whether male or female and whether having had a heart attack or not.

The Cochrane Collaboration web-site was most interesting. During my long chat with mum's Memory Clinic consultant, he explained that mum was prescribed a cholinesterase inhibitor (Donepezil a.k.a. Aricept) as there was strong evidence for its benefit. I found Donepezil for dementia due to Alzheimer's disease which indeed confirmed the benefit to patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The thing is, mum doesn't have AD. She has Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). I then found Cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia with Lewy bodies, which concluded:-

"Patients with dementia with Lewy bodies who suffer from behavioural disturbance or psychiatric problems may benefit from rivastigmine if they tolerate it, but the evidence is weak." (emphasis added by me).

There is a condition called Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD) which is similar (but not identical) to DLB and I found Cholinesterase inhibitors for Parkinson's disease dementia which concluded:-

"Rivastigmine appears to improve cognition and activities of daily living in patients with PDD."

Rivastigmine is similar (but not identical) to Donepezil. There were no reviews showing the effect of Donepezil on DLB.

So "experts" can prescribe medications based on weak/no evidence but I can't give mum supplements based on weak evidence. I'm not going to e-mail the consultant pointing this out as he may withdraw Donepezil and it does actually have a slight benefit. I'm going to print the above studies and use them to try to persuade mum's new GP (when mum's moved to the new nursing home) to permit me to supply mum with supplements based on my evidence.

I also found Omega 3 fatty acid for the prevention of dementia which stated:-

"Background
Accruing evidence from observational and epidemiological studies suggests an inverse relationship between dietary intake of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and risk of dementia. Postulated mechanisms that might qualify omega 3 PUFA as an interventional target for the primary prevention of dementia include its anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-amyloid and neuroprotective properties.

Main results
There were no randomized trials found in the search that met the selection criteria. Results of two clinical trials are expected in 2008.

Authors' conclusions
There is a growing body of evidence from biological, observational and epidemiological studies that suggests a protective effect of omega 3 PUFA against dementia. However, until data from randomized trials become available for analysis, there is no good evidence to support the use of dietary or supplemental omega 3 PUFA for the prevention of cognitive impairment or dementia."

It's now 2010 and there are still no results from RCTs showing. So, omega-3 PUFAs will not be prescribed despite the evidence from biological, observational and epidemiological studies. Luckily, I keep mum's mini-fridge stocked with smoked salmon and I will request that the new nursing home gives mum a salmon meal twice a week.

I am NOT the anti-carb!

2010-03-09T04:34:00.000-08:00

On a messageboard far, far away I was told:-

"While cakes and biscuits might be regarded primarily as treats, bread and pasta are staple foods, which form an important part of the diet of growing children, who are recommended by experts to get a fairly high proportion of their calories from carbohydrates, including wheat flour.

It is normal and healthy for children to have sandwiches and pasta as part of their meals, and pizza and pastry in moderation are perfectly appropriate. As are occasional treats.

I don’t suppose that I am the only person who is tired of your ceaseless evangelising on behalf of your own diet. But it is one thing to feed yourself as you please, and to talk about it if you wish, it is quite another to suggest that there is good reason for people to adopt your personal principles and ignore the advice of paediatricians, dieticians, and properly constituted advisory bodies when feeding children."

Also

"I'm sorry Nigel, but you do give the impression of being on a one man crusade against wheat in our diets. You are also making the assumption that we all eat refined wheat. What about wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals, wholemeal pasta? You are also assuming that we all buy sliced white bread. I make most of my bread in my bread machine, using organic flour. I know what goes into my bread, and it tastes so much better than supermarket bread.

Pasta need not be made from wheat, for example rice noodles and rice and corn pasta for coeliacs.

So many cuisines have wheat products in their diets. Obviously there are the different breads - nan, pitta, flatbread, tortilla wraps etc; a huge array of pastas, cous-cous; bulgar wheat. Wheat is also used in so many religious/celebratory foods - the bread at holy communion, Christmas/simnel/birthday cakes etc. I could go on."

Plus

"Most widespread cultures have one or two staple carbohydrates, predominantly grains, that are the basis of the normal healthy diet.

In Europe and Northern American those staples are wheat and potatoes. It is hence making a rod for your own back, and entirely unnecessary, to try to feed a child without both of these unless they have specific issues such as Coeliac disease - ask the parent of such a child just how difficult it is. Your argument that the eating of wheat is what makes westerners fat is entirely specious, as few of the more lean members of the culture have eschewed wheat, and your suggestion that the recommendations based on the food pyramid have failed at the population has got more obese since the pyramid was devised is a twisting of the facts – all the relaible evidence shows that the people who stick to the recommendations are just fine, it’s those that don’t follow the guidelines who become obese. The guidance in no way is a cause of the obesity epidemic.

In most of Asia the staple is rice (which, as eaten, is a refined grain incidentally, I don't know why you think it isn't)."

The above raises so many points that it's hard to know where to start. The beginning is probably the best place. WARNING! The following contains some irony.

"Experts" tell us what we should and shouldn't eat. That's worked so well, hasn't it? It's easy to blame people for not following the very guidelines that make them over-eat. It's their own stupid fault! "Experts" scoffed at Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis. He was more right than wrong though and modern medicine now uses sterile practices. "Experts" scoffed at James Lind and it took 42 years before the British navy adopted lemons or limes as standard issue at sea. So we know where "experts" can shove their dietary advice ... somewhere where the sun doesn't synthesise Vitamin D.

I don't try to get everybody on a low-carb diet. Jeez! Firstly, we are not all the same. Everyone has a different requirement for carbohydrate. As I wrote in Carbohydrates: Dogs' Doodads or Spawn of Satan?, "Right carbs, right amounts, right times." People don't do this, though. They eat the wrong carbs (powdered grains, mashed potato & other over-refined carbs like fruit juice) in the wrong amounts (way too much, as per "expert" advice) at the wrong times (virtually every meal, whether active or sedentary). Some random musings...

WHEATFLOUR: I guess it must be the lack of wheatflour that's pushed Orientals to the verge of extinction. Oh, wait...

LONGEVITY: Turn the clock back to a time before modern medicine and we wheatflour eaters had long average lifespans. Oh, wait...

BREAD: The vast majority of bread bought today is muck, mass-produced by the Chorleywood Bread Process. Even home-made bread is made from grain dust. See The problem with "Whole Grain" cereal etc. I don't consider white rice to be a refined grain as it still looks like a grain.

PASTA: When I was a lad, the only pasta we had was Heinz Spaghetti & Ravioli in tomato sauce. Now, pasta is a staple food in the UK? We all know how slim middle-aged Italians are. Oh, wait...

EXERCISE: When I was a lad, I used to run around in the street & playground like other kids. I was still fat. Exercise cannot compensate for poor diet (I ate lots of chocolate, cake & drank sugary Corona lemonade).

Why do we have to eat what farmers grow? Maybe if more people ate less powdered wheat products and more old-fashioned sourdough rye bread, farmers might start growing something else. There are plenty of carbohydrates that don't seriously disturb blood glucose levels, such as rice, rye, barley, quinoa, sorghum, millet, maize, sago, tubers, root veggies, bulbs, legumes & fresh whole fruits.

Nah, it'll never happen! Not while a) crap foods are dirt cheap and b) people keep following the dietary advice of "experts" like sheep ... or should that be lemmings?

See also Anthony Colpo's The Whole Grain Scam.

Whatever happened to...Dr. A?

2010-03-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

She left a comment on my previous blog post on 4th March. I posted a link to one of her blog posts on 5th March and the blog was not found. Her profile is not available and her main site's domain name has now expired.

This calls for some sombre music, until her return.

Coffee and brrrup-brrrap!

2010-03-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

For those who have no idea what the title means, see Memorable quotes for How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

When I woke up this morning, I felt a bit "blech". I wasn't coming down with anything nasty. I just drank too much coffee yesterday. Coffee contains caffeine which is a Central Nervous System stimulant. This gives you a brrrup (extra alertness & energy).

Sadly, what goes up must come down, giving you a brrrap (feeling like crap, headachey).

Here's some soothing music for those of you who are "coming down" from caffeine or any other stimulant.

We are not all the same.

2010-02-28T02:39:00.000-08:00

This is pretty much the same message as Everyone is Different, but I feel the need to repeat it. Here's why.

Lyle (McDonald) brought the following study to my attention to illustrate that "We are not all the same":- Some Metabolic Changes Induced by Low Carbohydrate Diets. On a very low-carb diet, one subject’s total cholesterol rose to 12.9mmol/L (500mg/dL in US units). The others didn't.
See also LDL cholesterol goes sky high on fatty diet.

I posted the study in various blogs to make the above point. Here are some of the replies I got:-
"Lyle? Lyle McDonald? Is that where you got that study, Nigel?" and... "I’m usually a pretty polite guy, Nigel. But based on this quote from the beginning of the study you mentioned, the people who wrote this study were a bunch of f**kwads, and really don’t deserve our attention. It’s a hatchet job."
"That was a weird study (1967) what I could make of it." and... "The men did all the stages but the women only did 3 stages of the diet."
"The fats were mostly omega-6 PUFA 13-35 grams worth..."
"The report you cite is so old and out of date that it makes me cry..."

My point was well & truly missed. I got the distinct impression that people thought I was criticising low-carb, high-fat diets. I wasn't. The simple fact is that there is no "One True Diet" that suits absolutely everybody. In the olden days everywhere & in poor countries nowadays, people that ate/eat the wrong diet for their body died/die young. Nowadays in rich countries, they get put on drugs e.g. oral hypoglycaemics (to lower blood glucose) & hypolipidaemics (to lower blood cholesterol/triglycerides).

Please note that omega-6 PUFAs tend to lower cholesterol rather than raise it, as per Fig. 2 of Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review. However, don't rush off and eat shed-loads of omega-6 PUFA (e.g. corn oil) in the mistaken belief that it will make you live any longer. See Incidence of cancer in men on a diet high in polyunsaturated fat - The Lancet March 6 1971.

Finally, for a little light relief, here is the latest result for Google Fight between "Healthy "low-fat diet"" and "Healthy "low-carb diet"". Oh, YES!

Things that make you go pink.

2010-02-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

Strenuous exercise. Alcohol. High-dose Niacin. All of these things make you go pink. All of these things are also good for your heart & circulation. As I mentioned in Red, red wine and very sharp pointy things, one glass of red wine significantly lowered my blood pressure in less than 10 minutes, probably by making my arteries dilate (which made me go pink) and by reducing my mental stress which lowered my stress hormone levels.

According to JBS2 guidelines (which I don't fully agree with), CVD risk factor increases with increasing blood pressure. It also increases with increasing TC:HDL ratio. What increases HDL? Things that make you go pink. What we now need is a study showing the effects of blushing on the risk factors for CVD!

Natural & synthetic disaccharides.

2010-02-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in Carbohydrates: Dogs' Doodads or Spawn of Satan?, there are three common disaccharides, sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar) and maltose (beer sugar). These all contain a molecule of glucose linked by a glycosidic bond to molecules of fructose, galactose and glucose respectively. In our bodies, our guts contain the enzymes sucrase, lactase & maltase which hydrolyse the glycosidic bond breaking the disaccharides into their constituent monosaccharides. People who lack any of these enzymes are unable to break the disaccharide into monosaccharides. As disaccharides are not absorbed, they pass along the gut until they reach the colon, where colonic bacteria ferment the disaccharides into short-chain fatty acids and gas. This increases ammonia levels in the colon which attracts water. End result: Lots of gas, soft poo and the excretion of ammonia (nitrogenous waste).

There's a synthetic disaccharide called lactulose, which is a disaccharide of fructose and galactose. As our bodies don't contain the enzyme lactulase, lactulose is fermented, producing lots of gas & soft poo. I thought I'd post about this as I'm taking lactulose to prevent the constipation caused by high dose Co-Codamol, the pain-killer I'm on while my 4-inch scar heals. It works!

An interesting but otherwise useless fact: The artificial sweetener sucralose that's made from & is about 600 times sweeter than sugar has the chemical name 1,6-Dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-β-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-α-D-galactopyranoside (I'm nerdy enough to know that by heart!). Sucralose has a structure like lactulose rather than sucrose, which has the chemical name β-D-fructofuranosyl-(2→1)-α-D-glucopyranoside. As the amount of sucralose used is about one 600th that of sucrose, it doesn't cause the above effects.

Red, red wine and very sharp pointy things.

2010-02-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

Suffice it to say that I've been feeling a bit stressed recently, what with all the hoo-ha over my mum's nursing home etc. Today, I'm going to be prodded & cut open with very sharp pointy things as I'm having a right inguinal hernia repaired with polypropylene mesh.

Last Wednesday, I attended the pre-op' assessment and failed with a BP of 154/100. I explained that I had a very important meeting with Social Services on my mind and it was causing me much stress so I was told to get a re-test at my local surgery on Friday. As the meeting on Thursday didn't go quite as I'd hoped (case closed), my BP on Friday was 160/100. My GP upped my Amias dose from 8mg/day to 12mg/day and told me to get a re-test on Monday. I had to get my diastolic reading (the lower of the two numbers) below 90 or my op' would not take place today.

On Monday morning I tested my BP at home using my £9.99 Lloyds Pharmacy automatic BP meter (which usually gives the same reading as my GP's sphygmomanometer) and the lowest reading I could get was 135/99. Uh-oh! Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I hardly ever drink alcohol, but I had a bottle of Blossom Hill Californian Red in the cupboard for *ahem* special occasions, so I had a 250mL glass of it on an empty stomach. Woo-hoo! It went straight to my head and I felt slightly flushed. Ten minutes later, I was in the doctor's surgery having my BP tested. It was 140/86. Result! I told my GP what I'd done and he was O.K. with it. So, red wine for the win!

Before you all rush off and get hammered, here's an article from the Harvard School of Public Health about Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits. The article used to contain a graph but it's been edited-out in the latest version. Luckily, I had a copy of it on my hard disk which I shall upload here.

As women have smaller livers than men, the cirrhosis graph shoots up faster for women as alcohol consumption increases beyond 1 drink per day.

The problem with "Whole Grain" cereals etc.

2010-02-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in Carbohydrates: Dogs' Doodads or Spawn of Satan?, some breakfast cereals turn into blood glucose faster than table sugar (half glucose bonded with half fructose) even though they're "Whole Grain" cereals.

A whole grain consists of a protective outer shell (a.k.a. bran) and innards consisting of starchy/proteiny endosperm and nutritious germ. See Cereal germ.

To turn a whole grain into a breakfast cereal, it's ground into dust, mixed with water to form a paste and the paste is extruded through holes into whatever shape the manufacturer desires. Technically-speaking, everything that was in the whole grain is in the finished product. However, the form & function have completely changed. Here are a couple of analogies.

1) I want to sell my car. First, I take it to a scrap-yard and have it shredded into tiny pieces. All of the tiny pieces are put in a skip which is delivered to my driveway. I place a sign on the skip stating "Whole Mazda MX-5 for sale. Enquire within. £5,000 O.N.O.". What would you offer for my "Whole Car"?

2) An insane person gives me £5,000 (in £50 notes) for my "Whole Car". As I'm on a roll, I take the notes and put them through a cross-cut shredder which turns them into thousands of 2mm x 2mm pieces. I empty the pieces into an attaché case. Who will accept my attaché case full of "Whole £50 notes" as payment for their second-hand car? Any more insane people out there?

Turning grains into dust does three things.

1) It exposes the starchy endosperm.
2) It vastly increases the surface area of the grain resulting in much faster digestion & absorption as blood glucose. Surface area is inversely proportional to particle size. If 3mm grains are reduced to 0.1mm particles, the surface area is increased by a factor of 30. How effective is chewing? Interestingly, once the particle size has fallen below a certain value, reducing it further makes no further difference. See The Effect of Particle Size of Whole-Grain Flour on Plasma Glucose, Insulin, Glucagon and Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone in Humans. Therefore, "whole grain" bread is just as bad as white bread in terms of its glucose & insulin response.
3) It makes the finished product much more likely to stick to your teeth, resulting in the rapid formation of tartar that damages your teeth and gums.

Rolled grains are whole grains that have been steamed (to cook and make them soft) and then put through what's effectively a mangle. They're still whole, if somewhat flat. Puffed grains are whole grains that have been heated to make the water within them boil. As steam takes up a much larger volume than water, the grains are inflated to a much larger size. They're still whole, if somewhat funky-looking.

So, don't be conned by breakfast cereal labels. If they look like "O"s or Brillo pads or brake pads, they're not whole grains any more.

Oats are O.K. even when turned into oatmeal, probably due to their high beta-glucan content which forms a wallpaper paste-like goo when wet. See Particle size of wheat, maize, and oat test meals: effects on plasma glucose and insulin responses and on the rate of starch digestion in vitro.

See also Anthony Colpo's The Whole Grain Scam.

The problem with Diabetes.

2010-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Referring to Blood Glucose, Insulin & Diabetes, a healthy person regulates his/her blood glucose level so that it doesn't go too high or too low. See Control of blood sugar levels.

Someone who has diabetes either has insufficient/no insulin secretion (type 1) or has insulin secretion but it's ineffective (type 2). People with type 1 diabetes have to inject various types of insulin and monitor their Blood Glucose (BG) with a BG meter. Here lies the problem. Consider the following analogy:-

Blood glucose control is like driving down a road cut into the side of a mountain. If you steer too far to the left (low blood glucose), you fall off the edge of the road and die. If you steer too far to the right (high blood glucose), you smash yourself against the side of the mountain. Injecting insulin/taking oral hypoglycaemic agents is like pulling on the steering wheel to the left. Eating sugary/starchy carbs is like pulling on the steering wheel to the right. Exercising is like pulling on the steering wheel to the left.

Not monitoring BG regularly is like driving down the above road with your eyes shut most of the time. You have no idea where you are on the road. Every time you monitor BG, you open your eyes.

A high-carbohydrate diet + high-medication regimen (e.g. ADA & Diabetes-UK) is like pulling on the steering wheel very hard, which results in diabetics veering all over the road. As diabetics don't want to fall off the edge of the road and die, they steer too far to the right (high average blood glucose) and damage themselves by glycation.

A low-carbohydrate diet + low-medication regimen (e.g. Bernstein, Christie, Ruhl, Cooksey, Shwarzbein etc) is like pulling on the steering wheel very gently, which results in diabetics steering a reasonably straight course down the middle of the road.

As low blood glucose is potentially fatal, that's why Studies show that a high average blood glucose level has lower mortality than a more normal average blood glucose level.